PopChill 設定的目標族群中，其中 Gen Z 重視獨特性和多元包容性，他們不論是在消費或選擇工作時，都比上個世代更在意企業是否善盡社會責任，他們的環保和道德感較高，反對「即用即棄」的浪費行為，願意支持對地球永續發展的概念，根據國發會統計，台灣 Z 世代有 378 萬人，千禧世代有 517 萬人，這兩個世代對科技與社群媒體的仰賴度極高，無論是生活、娛樂或消費習慣都和數位密不可分。
郭家齊表示，從過去 13 年的創業經驗來看，台灣從來沒有置身在國際趨勢的發展之外，他觀察到國外在全品項綜合型平台如 eBay 等發展成熟後，陸續出現「細分領域」的用戶對用戶間的個人交易，其中又以Fashion為大宗，而更值得關注的，這類Marketplace的交易平台的新興消費者主要集中在千禧一代和 Z 世代。
Renee is an associate mainly focused on investments. She joined AppWorks in 2021 with 10 years of experience in startups and venture capital. Always passionate about new technologies and untethered from traditional career tracks, Renee has held roles as a data scientist & head of insights at Rotor Videos London, an advisor at Microsoft Accelerator London, and a deputy manager at Waterland Venture Capital. She received her MBA from London Business School, holds a B.B.A in Finance from National Chung Hsing University, and is currently completing a second Masters degree in Computer and Information Technology at the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of work she loves music, is a keen drummer, and enjoys getting creative in the kitchen with a variety of cuisines.
Hi, I’m Renee. I joined AppWorks in November 2021 as an associate. To help you get to know me, I have put together my FAQ along with my bio.
1. What is your favorite thing about London after living there for 7 years?
It has to be the cultural diversity.
Many cities have the effect of making the people who move there water down their original culture in order to fit in better, but in London I felt that people had two identities. They keep their original culture but also take on the identity of a Londoner. I found that duality fascinating; it taught me very different perspectives on life, love, and how to live.
In a comparatively small geographical area, I was able to have conversations with people from all over the world on every topic under the sun. These connections have made me embrace different ways of doing things and I have incorporated the elements that I appreciate, which have expanded my world view and made me much more open-minded.
2. Who do you admire?
Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books. I think he is someone who truly changed the way the world does business. By introducing cheap and high-quality paperback books in 1935, Lane unlocked massive demand for serious literature and opened up reading to millions of people, making it accessible to not only the wealthy, but anyone with an inquiring mind. He is an inspiration to me because his innovation demonstrated that businesses can really change people’s outlook on life, something I also believe.
3. Have you worked on any interesting side projects and what were your takeaways?
I grew my own YouTube gaming channel for PokemonGo from zero to over 1 million views in the first month of its launch. I developed the channel because it was fun, the timing was right, and I wanted to take the opportunity to get first-hand experience in social media analytics, which I was learning at the time.
My main takeaways are firstly, it is important to stay focused, motivated, and whole-hearted in pursuing your projects. Secondly, a motivated and talented teammate can make great things happen and make the process enjoyable. Finally, I learned more about my own potential, such as that I have the ability to generate interest and accumulate a following in a very short amount of time and that I can lean into my creativity when I need to.
4. What is your most-used emoji?
😆
5. What is one thing about you that surprises people?
I am a drummer and I’ve been playing drums for more than 20 years.
6. What has been inspiring you recently?
In Elon Musk’s autobiography, his friend shared a story about when both Tesla and SpaceX were almost on the verge of bankruptcy in 2008, what bothered Elon the most was the idea that people would stop believing in electric cars and space exploration, rather than the fact he could fail and lose his wealth. To me, this shows the power of belief. Having such a strong cause, like Elon, helps people not only to stay strong and driven during the worst times, but also to focus on others which perhaps would make a time like this more bearable.
Another recent source of inspiration was hearing that Warren Buffett estimates that he spends around 80 percent of his day reading. When asked the key to his success, he pointed to a stack of books and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.” I know that it will be unlikely for me to spend 80 percent of my time reading, so I choose to instead use my time for reading better, by carefully selecting the source of my input every day and the materials that I use to learn new things.
7. What career did you dream of when you were a kid?
Secret agent / hacker.
8. What does data science mean to you?
Being a data scientist and head of insights before moving into my current role took me on an exciting journey, deepened my understanding of technology, and taught me a diverse way of thinking. Success in this field requires both logical and creative thinking, as finding insights through various experiments often needs a touch of exploration mindset on top of analytical thinking. This contradiction is what attracts me the most as I get to explore both ends of the spectrum and can feel my growth as I dive in deeper.
On weekends, I also love volunteering at non-profit organisations that harness the power of data science to make a positive impact on society. By devoting my time on these projects makes me feel fulfilled and that’s something I truly hope I can keep doing till I grow old.
9. Why did you choose to go into venture capital?
I wanted to be in an environment where I could help advance technologies that make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable. I have always been fascinated by how breakthroughs in technology can advance the world. Nowadays, with just a smartphone, we can easily connect with people, the world, be entertained, manage our finances, and conduct investments. At night, I can switch off my lights without leaving my bed simply by saying “OK Google”, which brings me so much joy every time I do it. My goal is to help shape innovative technologies so that everyone can have that feeling of joy and enhance our experiences in life.
10. What gets you out of bed every morning?
The spirit of exploration is what gets me out of bed every morning, as it continues to bring me abundant life experiences, from playing the drums in rock bands to scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. More importantly, it has helped me determine how to best draw on my passions and strengths to find fulfilling work and get to where I am today.
web3.GSEA Snapshot 2021 由 AppWorks 製作，有任何指教與建議，請 email 至 a@appworks.tw。感謝以下 AppWorks 的朋友，在過程中提供的協助：Peter Ing (Co-Founder of BlockchainSpace)、Leo Pham (Manager of Access Ventures)、Hung Nguyen (CEO of Spores)、Tri Pham (CEO of Kardiachain)、Ben Minh Le (CRO of M3TA)、TN Lee (Co-Founder of Pendle Finance)、Lawrence Samantha (Founder of NOBI)、Eagle Su (Marketing Specialist of Zombit)
Jun is an Analyst covering both AppWorks Accelerator and Greater Southeast Asia. Born and bred in America, Jun brings a wealth of international experience to AppWorks. He spent the last several years before joining AppWorks working for Focus Reports, where he conducted sector-based market research and interviewed high-level government leaders and industry executives across the globe. He’s now lived in 7 countries outside US and Taiwan, while traveling to upwards of 50 for leisure, collectively highlighting his unique propensity for cross-cultural immersion and international business. Jun received his Bachelors in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Founded in 2009, AppWorks is a leading startup community and venture capital firm built by founders, for founders. We are committed to backing the next generation of entrepreneurs in Greater Southeast Asia (ASEAN+Taiwan) and helping them to facilitate the region’s transition into the digital age. Building off the firm’s decade-plus of experience, AppWorks works closely with early-stage founders to achieve product-market fit, while helping growth-stage companies establish sustainable business models at scale.
Starting in 2018, blockchain was incorporated in the firm’s core mandate. We believe that the technology is currently driving a massive paradigm shift, opening up new disruptive and innovative opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurs as the world transitions into the web3 era.
In 2021, blockchain entered a mass adoption phase. With the emergence of new innovative applications such as DeFi, NFTs, GameFi, and web3 infrastructure, an unprecedented number of new funds, retail investors, and users have flocked to the crypto world, creating a flywheel effect that has facilitated the formation of key web3 infrastructure that we believe will usher in a new era of large-scale commercialization.
“As the world decentralizes, will development vary between different countries and regions?” This is a question that we’ve mulled over years. With the accelerated development of blockchain, we recognize that, in fact, regional dynamics have become more pronounced. We found that in Greater Southeast Asia’s major markets, the confluence of different historical, economic, industrial, societal, and cultural contexts has resulted in crypto adoption taking different forms. The emergence of diversified crypto markets is driving growth in the region to meet different market conditions and leading to new business models and approaches in the industry that can be applied globally.
The following is an overview of our analysis and views on each major market in the region:
Indonesia: Crypto Investment Outstripping Public Equities
Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest population and the largest in GSEA, is estimated to have an unbanked population of 66%. Based on market size alone, Indonesia has become an important market for the development of blockchain. Indonesia is entering a financial paradigm shift driven by blockchain and cryptoassets, and overall development is trending towards exponential growth. According to statistics from Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade, during the first five months of 2021, more than 6.5 million people in Indonesia traded cryptocurrencies—far exceeding the 2.2 million who traded public equities—totaling US$25 billion in cryptocurrency transactions, compared to US$4.4 billion over the same period in 2020, representing year-on-year growth of 470%. With statistics like these, it comes as no surprise that cryptocurrency has become the most popular investment category among Indonesian retail traders.
Compared with other countries, the Indonesian government is relatively positive towards crypto. Since September 2018, a series of laws have been enacted, signaling the open attitude of the Indonesian government. The Commodity Futures Exchange Supervisory Board (BAPPEBTI) oversees cryptocurrency-related issues and has provided legal frameworks for licensing and trading. Currently, Indonesians can legally own and trade a total 229 different cryptocurrencies.
Indonesia’s crypto landscape is underlined by the rapid development and adoption of exchanges, wallets, asset management tools, and other DeFi applications. For example, Indodax, established in 2014, is Indonesia’s leading exchange with more than 4.7 million users. With increasing acceptance of investment in cryptocurrencies by the general public, new areas of development, such as investment platform NOBI, that provide asset management services that cater to crypto users will mark the next wave of growth.
Philippines: Massive User-Driven Growth
In 2021, Yield Guild Games (YGG) broke out in the Philippines and became a global phenomenon. Evolving from its initial function of assisting Axie Infinity in recruiting and training players, YGG is now home to more than 1,500 NFT game guilds based in the Philippines. YGG provides players with digital asset management, game scholarships, and community support—becoming the world’s largest NFT gaming guild.
According to Playercounter, more than 40% of Axie Infinity players hail from the Philippines alone. Play-to-earn has proven to provide meaningful income to users, effectively alleviating economic pressure caused by the pandemic for many users.
This model of massive user acquisition to drive ecosystem growth is a unique characteristic of blockchain development in the Philippines. We anticipate that with the mass inflow of capital and users, there will be a corresponding entrepreneurial response that will lead to the creation of new and innovative applications in the Philippines. We have seen this trend emerge with projects like NFT marketplace Vention and gaming guild management and data platform BlockchainSpace.
Singapore: Leveraging the Strength of Asia’s Financial Center
Singapore has always been known as Asia’s financial center, building off the government’s proactive policies over the past several decades. A similar trajectory is also taking shape in the country’s blockchain development. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is the leading regulatory body overseeing cryptoassets, and has long demonstrated a relatively open and friendly stance on the development of blockchain and cryptoassets within the city-state.
As early as 2017, MAS issued “A Guide to Digital Token Offering” which established the Singapore government’s policy framework for ICOs, issuers and related platforms, under the purview of the Securities and Futures Act (SFA). In January 2021, the “Payment Service Act” (PSA) was launched, regulating all cryptocurrencies, exchanges, and digital payment services in Singapore.
As a result, there has been an emergence of several new blockchain-related applications. For example, Biconomy, which builds transaction infrastructure for blockchain applications and optimizes cross-chain transaction experience; Xfers, a developer of financial electronic payments; and Vauld, a service provider covering cryptocurrency transactions, lending, and wallets. In the future, we expect more projects coming out of Singapore in cryptocurrency-related asset securitization, license compliance, and international exchanges.
Thailand: From Late Mover to Frontrunner
While Thailand’s blockchain ecosystem can be considered quite early, 2021 marked an acceleration point with several milestones. In November, Thailand’s first blockchain unicorn was born as crypto exchange Bitkub sold a 51% stake worth US$535 million to Siam Commercial Bank. Paired together with logistics provider Flash Express’s newly minted billion-dollar valuation, Thailand welcomed its first unicorns of the internet and Web3 era respectively within a five-month period.
Bitkub’s success is galvanizing the Thai blockchain ecosystem, demonstrating that Thailand can develop scalable blockchain infrastructure. Bitkub alumni and seasoned Web2 entrepreneurs are diving into Thailand’s blockchain space, just as we’ve witnessed in other markets.
In fact, we can already see the emergence of more mature and advanced Web3 applications. For example, the emergence of cross-chain data oracle platform Band Protocol and metaverse gaming guild GuildFi show the level of innovation and reiteration happening in the market. We believe that in the near future, we will see more projects in the NFT space, building off Bangkok’s rich fashion and design industry and the country’s active NFT artist community.
Vietnam: The Axie Infinity Effect
When it comes to Vietnam, the most well-known player is Sky Mavis, the developer behind the killer NFT-based game Axie Infinity. According to CryptoSlam statistics, since its launch in 2018, the total amount of NFT transactions on Axie Infinity reached more than US$3.7 billion, with more than two million daily active users, culminating in Sky Mavis’s recently completed US$152 million Series B round of financing.
The impact of Sky Mavis’s success on Vietnam can be observed from two perspectives. First, it is driving the growth of Vietnam’s local NFT gaming ecosystem and attracting international capital to accelerate development and adoption. For example, in October, Sipher raised US$6.8 million in seed financing from major global investors. In addition, there’s been a surge in casual and semi-casual GameFi projects coming out of the woodwork including My DeFi Pet, Mytheria, Thetan Arena, and Faraland.
Second, Vietnamese users have demonstrated high levels of acceptance for blockchain and cryptoassets. According to the 2021 Global Crypto Adoption Index survey conducted by Chainalysis, Vietnam ranked first globally in terms of overall adoption. Among three indicators, on-chain value received, on-chain retail value received, and P2P exchange trade volume, Vietnam ranked in the top five in the world. We anticipate that new applications in DeFi, wallets, and asset management like we see with Kyber Network’s Liquidity Hub will highlight the next wave of blockchain innovation in Vietnam.
Taiwan: A Huge Digital Market Driven by Engineering Talent
Compared with other markets in the GSEA region, Taiwan has two notable characteristics and advantages in blockchain development. First, Taiwan is home to a massive digital gaming and entertainment market. To illustrate this market size, according to App Annie, in 2020, Taiwanese consumers spent US$2.44 billion in the App Store, equal to total spending from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia combined. Second, Taiwan has accumulated a wealth of engineering talent across manufacturing, software, and hardware integration. This talent pool has formed the core of Taiwan’s blockchain industry.
In 2021, Taiwan also joined the global NFT wave with early-stage activity. Leveraging the island’s fertile digital gaming and entertainment market, Taiwanese founders are adopting NFTs to create products, services, and new business models. Musicians, artists, game publishers, and influencers have embraced NFTs to build public awareness and tap into this new digital format of ownership, demonstrating immense promise for large-scale commercial adoption of NFTs.
Since the advent of Ethereum, Taiwan’s local engineers have continued to explore the frontiers of blockchain development, becoming a key driving force in the crypto world. Taiwan is home to several notable projects led by seasoned teams, including Perpetual Protocol, which provides Virtual Automated Market Maker (vAMM) to implement perpetual contract solutions; smart contract wallet Blocto has become the go-to wallet for Flow—with more than 80% of Flow users trusting Blocto for Flow Token pledges. In cross-chain applications, Blocto also supports Ethereum, BSC, Solana, Avalanche (c-chain), and Polygon, among other mainstream public chains.
Bright Days Ahead
Just a few years ago, you’d be hard pressed to find the words web3, blockchain, DeFi, or NFTs uttered anywhere outside of niche crypto spheres in this part of the world. Now, sentiment from founders and investors across the region have evidently shifted from “why web3?” to “how do I get a piece of it?”—largely in this past year alone.
Taiwan is at the forefront from a technical perspective, with an unparalleled engineering pool in terms of cost and performance; Indonesia is emerging as massive market for web3 consumers, now with crypto traders outnumbering stock traders by severalfold; Philippines is in a close second, with everyday users showing an uncanny demand for GameFi to make ends meet; Thailand’s historically nascent ecosystem is expected to garner significantly more attention now with their first crypto unicorn; Vietnam, given Axie’s success, is quickly distinguishing itself as a the world’s NFT gaming hub; and lastly, Singapore’s position as the region’s financial and management hub will likely extend into the web3 era.
Any doubts of whether or not web3 is here to stay were certainly eroded by the massive strides that the regional ecosystem has taken in 2021. Looking forward, the development and adoption of web3 is looking especially bright. Although crypto markets will likely ebb and flow in the coming months and years, with the occasional bears and dips, many stakeholders across the value chain have already gotten taste, and will likely only want more.
The 2021 Greater Southeast Asia Blockchain Ecosystem Map is authored by AppWorks. For inquiries, please write to a@appworks.tw. For this survey, thanks for several friends’ assistance: Peter Ing (Co-Founder of BlockchainSpace), Leo Pham (Manager of Access Ventures), Hung Nguyen (CEO of Spores), Tri Pham (CEO of Kardiachain), Ben Minh Le (CRO of M3TA), Rémy Perettieny (CEO of Reminiscense), TN Lee (Co-Founder of Pendle Finance), Lawrence Samantha (Founder of NOBI), and Eagle Su (Marketing Specialist of Zombit)
【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】
David is an Associate mainly focused on investments. He previously lived in the US, but was drawn to the Greater Southeast Asia region by the growth opportunities and the wonderful people here. He spent the first five years of his career as a consultant at IBM, where he became intimately familiar with the enterprise software and services needs of Fortune 500 companies. Later, he focused on building predictive models and solving optimization problems for large companies, and gained an appreciation for the role of data and algorithms in our lives. He joined AppWorks in 2020 after receiving his MBA from Columbia Business School, and also has a B.S. in Mathematics from the Ohio State University. In his free time, he tries to stay active and is always looking for opportunities to hike or trek, often seeking the trail less traveled.
2021 was a banner year for retail cryptocurrency adoption. The most exciting up-and-coming projects and meme coins alike have entrenched themselves into dinner table conversations for tens of millions of retail users, while the Coinbase IPO legitimized the space for many institutional observers.
However, remarkably, we are still in the early stages of development in other segments of the crypto space. The first wave of institutional investors have been around for a while, but it’s still a drop in the bucket for traditional institutions managing trillions of dollars in assets.
Today, we announce our investment into Figment, one of the largest independent enterprise staking service providers in the world. Of course, at AppWorks, no investment could be made without having strong conviction in the founding team, and we found an exceptional founder in Lorien Gabel.
A serial founder with the heart of a warrior
When we first met Lorien we could immediately feel a calm sense of depth, wisdom, and ambition. A veteran founder of the web1 era, which enabled millions of ordinary people to publish and read content on open protocols, Lorien has long been fighting for and brings a special passion for the principles of decentralization.
And with three successful exits under his belt, Lorien brings more than a few battle scars as a tech entrepreneur. He built the first of his many ventures, one of the early internet service providers, with his brother in their 20s, before being acquired by what became the largest consumer ISP in Canada. Their second company, a web hosting service, was another early mover in the web1 days and was acquired by AT&T Canada. And now they’re back at it again with Figment.
Despite being told by many investors early on that he was building a commodity business, Lorien never gave up, taking it on as a personal challenge to emerge from the pack while always keeping an eye on the long game. In hindsight, it is not the least bit surprising that he and his team have been able to build a unicorn in just a few short years.
But Lorien isn’t stopping here. While the results thus far speak volumes, we are even more impressed by his determination to take Figment into the future. We weren’t surprised to hear that the team never even considered recent acquisition offers, given Lorien’s passion for solving intellectually challenging problems, his warrior-like mentality towards finding a way to emerge from a highly competitive landscape, and his sheer drive to create outsized impact in the web3 ecosystem.
Exploding demand for staking as crypto is legitimized
Figment provides staking infrastructure for institutional asset holders and custodians, allowing crypto asset holders to earn yield by participating in the upkeep of the network. Tokens belonging to this exploding asset class, proof-of-stake tokens, utilize a more environmentally-friendly consensus mechanism while generating yield for holders.
Staking is not a trivial task and involves frequent node infrastructure updates. High performance and execution is required, as nodes that do not perform as expected are punished financially, hurting staked token holders. As one of the largest players in the space, Figment has the resources to deploy teams of researchers and engineers to ensure high performance across several chains and play a critical role in the governance of each chain.
As staking service providers consolidate into a small handful of dominant players in a market expected to reach US$50 billion in just a few years, we believe in Figment’s ability to emerge as one of the top players and create tremendous value, something we have already recognized as a loyal customer ourselves.
Unlocking the next frontier
We’re excited to see how Figment will evolve under Lorien’s leadership, and we have a feeling that the business will look very different in five to ten years, as any great business does. As an operator of node infrastructure, they are in a unique position to offer indispensable services to web3 developers just as the developer flywheel is beginning to take off. Figment has already demonstrated remarkable promise in their web3 explorer Hubble, developer platform DataHub, and search service.
At AppWorks, we look for great founders who seek to create significant impact and move their respective industries forward. We’re honored to have the privilege to partner with Lorien and the entire Figment team as they continue to push the envelope on enterprise-grade staking and the rapidly evolving web3 development landscape.
【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】
