By Sophie Chiu, AppWorks Principal

In 2021 there was Axie Infinity built on blockchain from Vietnam, in 2024 we are excited to see Clout Kitchen powered with AI from the Philippines. Gaming often stands at the forefront of new technologies, offering a strong opportunity for startups in Southeast Asia to leapfrog into a blue ocean. This is a piece we talk about why we invested in Clout Kitchen leading their Pre-Seed round back in December 2023 prior to their latest round with a16z SPEEDRUN and Peak XV Partners. In particular, why we decided to back the two co-founders: Justin Banusing, Marcel Feldkamp, and Gabriel Henry Lopez. 

Justin, the 24 year-old CEO with 9 years entrepreneurial experience

A closed door usually leads to an open window. In the summer of 2011, Justin failed in the first episode of MasterChef Junior in the Philippines. Suddenly, this 12-year-old had an empty summer that he had originally blocked for the show. Partially to regain confidence, Justin began cold calling to intern at various gaming startups and outlets over the next year and a half – most notably  Tier One Entertainment (then called PESO). This was the  beginning of a 12-year journey in the gaming industry. During this period, Justin travelled across the region to cover gaming events for outlets like ESPN and Red Bull and started his boutique agency in 2014. He became a well-known esports journalist. Just before enrolling at the University of Washington in 2018, Justin and two other co-founders started AcadArena, a campus gaming community, which peaked when it raised its Series A in 2022 and were mentored by veteran startup founders like Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Crunchyroll co-founder Kun Gao.

The challenges of running a startup soon became a reality check. In 2023, Justin once again found himself in a downward spiral as the company he started pivoted, reminiscent of the dark side he had experienced before: a geeky boy who loved gaming and comics but was never the most popular kid in school; a young entrepreneur who was sometimes a rising star but could easily be seen as immature, sitting in a bigger chair than he was ready for. After splitting with his co-founders, he took a six-month break to figure out his next steps and even considered joining the VC side to help founders. While exploring this path with AppWorks, he noticed that VC investors often outnumbered founders at many startup events in Manila. Justin saw a bigger mission than simply proving his worth for his own sake. If everyone agrees that gaming is a huge market in this region, and if everyone sees the untapped potential here, then more founders are needed. With this realisation, Justin decided to resume his role and, in late 2023, started Clout Kitchen with his co-founders, Marcel.

Marcel, the former top eSport athlete that is actually a founder at heart  

Marcel’s stage name is “Dexter,” and one of his legendary teams is “Dexter is Actually Evil.” He grew up in Germany and is among the very first  esports athletes to immigrate to the US due to his exceptional gaming performance. He started his pro-gaming career early, at age 15. Approaching retirement, Marcel also explored gaming journalism and commentating until he started his own gaming talent agency, Press X, at age 24. After the Hollywood-based United Talent Agency acquired Press X in 2018, Marcel established another boutique agency, Proxy, in 2020, and began angel investing – where he wrote one of the first checks into Justin’s previous company

Marcel is always looking for new business models, products, and technologies to empower more creators including gamers. That’s why when Justin proposed the idea of building an AI gaming coach, Marcel undoubtedly joined the team. A pro gamer is never satisfied with the status quo and always seeks new innovations to win bigger games. Catching the right opportunity at the right time is another of their strong suits. These qualities are shared by many successful founders worldwide and they keep Marcel ahead.

Gabriel, the youngest founder funded by VC in Philippines   

Since childhood, Gabriel has been deeply inspired by Mark Zuckerberg, aspiring to become the Philippines’ equivalent of the tech mogul. Rather than entering the highly competitive social media sector, he founded his first startup, MedHyve, at the age of 17 in 2017, focusing on digitalizing the procurement process for hospitals. This entrepreneurial journey led him to drop out of the University of the Philippines, as he found the school curriculum too slow compared to the learning opportunities from real-world startup experience. Gabriel is a passionate and dedicated learner who has self-taught himself to become a full-stack engineer, mastering AI engineering, app development, and other related fields.

MedHyve joined AppWorks Accelerator #22 in 2021 when they grew to half million of annual sales, a good timing to think about scaling. Eventually MedHyve chose to merge with Pulse63, a healthcare venture studio in Southeast Asia. Seeking broader horizons, Gabriel decided to move to the US to gain exposure to a larger and more competitive tech environment. Recognizing the need to learn from top talents, he joined G2, a software review unicorn, as a senior software engineer at the young age of 23, where he led AI software initiatives. 

Later, his long-time friend Justin, another rising young founder from the Philippines, proposed the idea of Clout Kitchen. They saw the advantage of leveraging a Filipino tech team to agilely launch a strong MVP at a fraction of the cost compared to US startups, especially in the rapidly evolving AI sector. This new competitive team, a solid trio of gamer, engineer, and founder, was thus formed to take on the gaming industry.

The next evolution of gaming after Twitch

“Usually there’s something that pushes you into games. There’s some escapism in it,” Marcel commented on why he became a gamer. Gamers often play alone or in small groups. In the early 2000s, my high school friends from the top escalating program in Taiwan would gather every Wednesday in an internet café to play Lineage II and StarCraft, just like many teenagers worldwide at that time. Twitch brought the first wave of disruption to this behaviour. People, including myself, no longer needed to stand and watch friends play games in a café physically. Twitch created a real digital-native community of gamers and their fans. You can watch your favourite gamer play any game at almost any time. In a way, Twitch was born from the community’s calling.

The wave of innovation from live streaming is a decade old now. It has allowed many top gamers and streamers to create multi million dollar net worths, such as the notable PewDiePie and Tyler “Ninja.” We believe the AI evolution now presents another disruptive opportunity. While Scarlett Johansson was not happy with “Her” voice being resembled by OpenAI’s new product during its launch, AI companionship has huge potential for the coaching purpose. People used to rely on watching the best players on Twitch to learn and sharpen their skills. Now the best players can impart their time-honoured knowledge and expertise to an AI model. That’s why Clout Kitchen’s recent beta launch, Backseat AI, received great attention, earning 300,000 views across multiple platforms within a few hours. Backseat AI is a personal AI gaming coach companion. The first persona they onboarded is the notable Tyler1, a top League of Legends gamer with over 10 million followers. 

AI companionship for everything 

We believe there’s a huge opportunity for personalised AI in every vertical. Among the latest AppWorks Accelerator #28, Olli is integrating personalised AI into toys, powered by chips designed by MediaTek, a US$70B market cap IC design house from Taiwan. Olli was founded by Hai Ta, a serial entrepreneur from Vietnam. Meanwhile, our latest investment in Bythen, founded by Kevin Mintaraga, another serial entrepreneur from Indonesia, is building AI personas with NFTs.

Technological advancements allow builders from around the world to create the next great products. This is particularly meaningful for Asia, as it presents a global opportunity that surpasses domestic market limitations. Additionally, the region’s long-established hardware and semiconductor advantages provide founders with a slightly better chance of accessing the latest technology in computation and chip design.

At AppWorks, we have an extensive startup ecosystem of 1,700+ founders in this part of the world. Our corporate network in Taiwan, including top electronic manufacturers, can provide an experimental environment and direct resource support. Our goal is always to help founders stay ahead of their game. We’re very excited to be part of the journey with Justin, Marcel, and Gabriel.

We are proud to announce our investment in Daniel Hannum and Daniel Pfeffer, the CEO and CTO of GasHawk. They are tackling one of the fundamental elements of blockchain—transaction efficiencies—including gas fee optimization, fraud detection, and MEV protection. Here’s why we decided to back these two outstanding founders.

Daniel Hannum, A Story of Determination and Execution

We have always placed our faith in founders who exhibit exceptional determination and execution. Daniel Hannum embodies these qualities, making him the ideal leader to position GasHawk for scalable success. 

Dan’s journey is a testament to his resilience and determination. Raised by a single mother in Washington, D.C., Dan’s early life instilled in him a powerful drive for greater attainment. His business acumen became evident at Hawke Media, where he played a crucial role in boosting the company’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) from US$10K to US$25M. This success continued at ZenLedger, where, as COO, he dedicated himself to the company’s growth, helping it achieve several millions in ARR.

However, Dan consequently faced a major setback at ZenLedger with resume inconsistencies, which led to the loss of years of hard work overnight. Rather than sulking in defeat, Dan took full responsibility for his actions and used the experience as a motivator to restart, do the right thing and truly prove himself.

Dan’s life story includes overcoming significant challenges, including a legal setback as a teenager, and later, public scrutiny after his departure from ZenLedger. Despite these obstacles, Dan continued to demonstrate resilience. His ability to regroup, learn from his mistakes, and correct his mindset caught the attention of the founder of Corpus Ventures, the incubator behind GasHawk, who eventually offered Dan the position of CEO after countless hours of conversations.  

In 15 months, Dan has led GasHawk to onboard nearly 7,000 users, generate US$500K in revenue and grants, and demonstrated solid early traction. Dan’s journey reflects his ability to face challenges, even those of his own making, and turn them into opportunities for growth, success, and redemption.

Daniel Pfeffer, The Data Science PhD Revolutionizing Blockchain Transactions

Daniel Pfeffer brings a diverse and technical background to his role as CTO of GasHawk. From a young age, Daniel was influenced by his father’s handyman skills, which sparked his interest in building and understanding how things work. This early passion led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Throughout his career, Daniel has worked on data-related projects across various industries, including manufacturing, IoT, and construction. His experience spans embedded systems, data science, and web applications, giving him a well-rounded technical perspective. 

Daniel’s transition into blockchain technology was influenced by his brother, who was involved with Corpus Ventures. This connection led Daniel to apply his data science expertise to optimize blockchain transactions, ultimately resulting in the development of GasHawk’s core technology. Daniel’s combination of academic rigor, hands-on experience in multiple industries, and deep understanding of data science positions him well to drive GasHawk’s technical development and innovation in the blockchain space.

GasHawk’s Vision for a Comprehensive Transaction Layer 

GasHawk is addressing a significant challenge in the blockchain space: high and volatile transaction fees, particularly on turbulent networks like Ethereum. The company offers an innovative solution that can save users, including individuals and institutions, up to 95% on transaction fees by monitoring network activity and predicting optimal times to submit transactions. While recent improvements like EIP-4844 have reduced gas fees, as more Layer 2 networks, app-chains, and rollup-as-a-service platforms launch, there’s potential for significant congestion in Layer 2 transactions, which could lead to surges in blob fees. The team is already developing a blob-based service for enterprise clients, which is set to launch in the second half of 2024.

Looking ahead, GasHawk envisions itself as more than just a gas optimization tool. The company aims to position itself as a transaction layer between users’ wallets and blockchain networks, potentially offering additional services such as security protections, transaction previews, unified management, and even features like rebates or private order flow. By owning this critical transaction layer, GasHawk seeks to add value and leverage for its customers across multiple blockchain ecosystems. 

As investors in GasHawk, we’re excited about their potential to revolutionize blockchain transactions. If you’re a wallet provider, Layer 2 protocol, exchange, DeFi platform, NFT marketplace, DAO, or any blockchain-based enterprise looking to optimize transaction costs and enhance user experience, reach out to the GasHawk team and us!

While we all love to play games, over time, the same game playing style can become less entertaining. This has driven game developers to continuously seek new ways to provide players with whole new gaming experiences. Game designers have often been the first ones to embrace the latest technologies, from personal computers and home entertainment systems to 3D rendering, the internet, mobile platforms, and AR/VR.

While we got a glimpse of what blockchain can offer gamers—such as ownership of digital items and the ability to monetize them—the first iteration of blockchain games, infamous dubbed ‘play-to-earn,’ ultimately failed to find a sustainable model. However, other blockchain properties that could bring more interesting experiences, such as composability and provenance, have so far been largely ignored.

But not anymore! We are excited to support Tony and Wyeth, the co-founders of Random Games, as they focus on bringing the fun parts of blockchain into gaming to create new experiences. Their vision allows players to not only own their digital items and characters but also traverse with their items to different games and realms to forge their own eternal legacy.

Doing something new instead of the old

Tony’s career in the video game industry began in 1989 when he walked through the front doors of Nintendo of America and asked to sweep the floors in exchange for a job. After being tasked with localizing numerous games from Japan and seeing mediocre results, Tony was eager to try his hand at creating a game tailored for the US market as Nintendo competed head-to-head with SEGA for the leading position.

By writing his own manifesto on how to create a hit game to draw the attention of the legendary game creators at Nintendo, Tony persuaded the president of Nintendo Japan to grant him a US$3M budget and the IP for Donkey Kong. This pivotal moment laid the foundation for Nintendo’s success in the US market. Donkey Kong Country stole the show at its CES launch in 1994 and became the #3 highest-grossing SNES game of all time, generating US$400M in revenue and selling over 9 million copies in its first holiday season.

Tony later contributed to many other hit titles such as the original Star Fox, Grand Theft Auto, and Crackdown, and most recently sold nWay, a game company he co-founded, to Animoca Brands in 2019. He attributes his success to a motto he picked up while working alongside some of the best game developers in the world: “If you copy what’s working today, by the time you are done you are yesterday’s news.”

Wyeth, the co-founder and CTO, is also a force to be reckoned with. With an intense interest in technology and gaming, Wyeth co-founded Leviathan Games in 1998 shortly after graduation. He and his team have been the secret weapon in delivering games on the latest generation of gaming platforms for leading IPs, from the iPod to Wii, to the latest PlayStations. They have worked with household-named IPs such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Trek, and many more.

The duo are both based in Denver and would regularly catch up over beers to discuss the latest in gaming. After witnessing multiple web3 games fail spectacularly, Tony and Wyeth believe that most of these web3 games overlooked the fun aspects of blockchain that can elevate gaming. So, they decided to found Random Games Company to bring that vision to life.

Non Fungible Tokens as the base of expansive worlds

Up until the end of 2023, most web3 games have only introduced NFTs mainly as collectibles. Although these collectibles were playable in web-based games, the core experience was limited to individual games.

The Random Games team is leveling up the experience by bringing NFT playable items directly into 3D game environments. The infrastructure build for their “Unioverse” franchise allows users to create their own NFT items within the game and publish them directly on the blockchain, accessible instantly through leading NFT marketplaces such as Opensea.

Leveraging blockchain’s provenance, Unioverse NFTs will also have their own history and battle scars, making them more unique over time. Slaying legendary monsters or completing special quests will add to the item or hero’s rarity, which can be rewarded with in-game bonuses. This design transposes the play-to-earn experience into a play-to-rare experience, allowing for an even more diverse range of uniqueness to items within meaningful context. 

The revenue generated from trading and selling these NFTs will be used to fund additional games within the Unioverse. This will lead to more games implementing existing NFTs and their play-to-rare properties, expanding the storylines and experiences for all players.

“PUSH START” and let the fun begin! 

Tony and Wyeth have both been in the game industry for most of their lives and have dedicated their careers to pushing forward what is possible in the next phase of gaming, both ideologically and technologically. We believe that blockchain can elevate gaming as a whole by breaking down silos traditionally constructed by monetization tied to intellectual properties. By leveraging NFTs and blockchain ledger to streamline monetization, we see a future where a borderless gaming universe can exist with interoperability and composability witnessed in Decentralized Finance.

We are excited to be able to support founders who are forward-looking and dedicated to their mission to push industries forward. We can’t wait to get our hands on the latest games in the Unioverse. Under the leadership of Tony and Wyeth, Unioverse is writing the next chapter in gaming that we’ve all been waiting for.

If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with web3 and AI / IoT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia. 

By Sophie Chiu, AppWorks Principal

AppWorks has known Hsieh Jui-Ting, the founder of DotDot, for a long time, and he is more commonly referred to as Ting. Ting joined AppWorks #10 in 2014, bringing his third entrepreneurial venture, iIoT, to the program. We have walked alongside Ting for 10 years, and this year, we are fortunate to participate and lead the investment in DotDot, his current venture. This article will discuss the overall considerations behind this investment decision, including our long-standing relationship with Ting, the evolution of restaurant technology, and the tough battles DotDot aims to fight.

The Chapter Three for A Serial Entrepreneur

As a serial entrepreneur, Ting’s journey began during his university years. In 1998, he joined the renowned company at the time, pAsia, and contributed to the development of the world’s first Mandarin-based instant messaging software, CICQ, as well as the auction website CoolBid. Through pAsia, they secured investment from Intel, which was one of the legendary stories in Taiwan’s software startup history. However, it came to an end during the dot-com bubble in 2000-2001. (Editor’s note: The image of the founding team of pAsia, who appeared on the cover of a magazine in 1999 with great enthusiasm, was one of the inspirations for AppWorks founder Jamie and his university friends to establish Intumit, now a listed company in Taiwan.)

Ting’s experience at pAsia ignited his entrepreneurial journey. Shortly before graduating with a master’s degree, he came across a business opportunity through friends at the National Chiao Tung University’s CCCA (Campus Computer Communication Association). This opportunity was to build an employee benefits shopping platform for UMC called “UMC Store.” It became Ting’s second entrepreneurial venture, Dottech, in 2000. The platform achieved a GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) of US$7 million and was sold within two years. This marked the first chapter of Ting’s entrepreneurial journey.

After graduating, Ting paused his entrepreneurial plans due to losses in the stock market and joined Quanta as an IC design engineer, where he spent 11 years. This experience in IC and hardware design provided Ting with rich insights—from product design and customer development to leading teams. Ultimately, due to differences in commercial strategy with Quanta’s management, Ting decided to leave the well-compensated position and embark on the second chapter of his entrepreneurial journey.

With his technical expertise in hardware-software integration, Ting founded iIoT in 2014 with his own capital and joined AppWorks Accelerator #10. iIoT primarily provided routers and network services to retail and restaurant businesses, and thanks to its superior technology, it won the Taiwan Lottery contract in partnership with Taiwan Mobile. In 2016, Ting founded GoWiFi to do rental business for pocket WiFi routers. Both businesses achieved a significant market share within 2-3 years. Much like with UMC Store in 2000, Ting has always excelled at 0-to-1 entrepreneurship, building profitable small businesses.

However, Ting was not satisfied with this. From many iIoT clients, he discovered that the needs and pain points of small and medium-sized restaurant businesses were still unmet, and the restaurant market itself had vast potential for greater challenges. In 2019, Ting founded DotDot, specialising in services for small and medium-sized restaurant businesses, leading the QR code ordering trend in Taiwan. In 2024, DotDot Pay was launched, making DotDot the first non-banking institution in Taiwan to introduce SoftPOS (software point-of-sales) technology, officially entering the payments market.

This marks the third chapter of Ting’s entrepreneurial journey. After successfully founding several companies with sub US$10 million in revenue and profitability, he is now taking on the highly competitive payments market, aiming to build a company with hundreds of millions or even billions in revenue. This is no easy feat, especially as Ting will need to continually improve himself. He has excelled in guerrilla tactics and achieving significant success in niche markets, but the payments market is fiercely competitive, dominated by large players, and requires not only upgraded tactics but also greater determination. However, AppWorks colleagues who have known Ting for over a decade are confident in him, as he has never been one to give up easily. No matter how difficult or complex a project may be, Ting has always led his team to overcome challenges one by one. This perseverance stems from his deep understanding of his restaurant clients—so much so that Ting even opened a breakfast shop himself, personally standing at the grill to understand every operational pain point his clients face. He even filmed instructional videos teaching restaurants how to effectively deal with cockroach infestations.

DotDot’s Early Success 

A deep understanding of restaurant clients is a critical factor in setting the right product and pricing strategies. The restaurant tech market is naturally constrained by the local economic conditions. In Taiwan and Southeast Asia, customers’ willingness to pay is much lower compared to developed countries. No matter how many features or how advanced the hardware and software, it’s often difficult to raise subscription prices. For example, the monthly subscription price for POS systems in the U.S. ranges from US$60-250, whereas in Taiwan, the range is US$35-65, and in Southeast Asia (excluding Singapore), it’s US$10-40. Although the cost of engineering talent varies by region, it still takes a significant amount of manpower to build these products, meaning that entrepreneurs in Greater Southeast Asia must be much more cost-conscious.

This was also the first strategy that DotDot adopted when it entered the restaurant tech space in 2019: instead of offering a full suite of high-end technology products, customers may need a simple module that directly solves their most pressing issue. As a result, DotDot first launched a simple receipt printer paired with LINE for QR ordering. Their hardware background meant that the printer was made with Taiwan’s lowest-cost DNA, offering a very affordable price. This hardware integration background also made the printer completely seamless to use—plug it in, and it starts receiving orders. DotDot’s initial strategy swept across small and medium-sized restaurants, and today, they have the support of more than 15,000 customers, with a very low churn.

DotDot’s success in the small and medium-sized restaurant sector highlights an eternal truth: for restaurant businesses, technology products are always considered a cost, and they just want something cheaper. With Taiwan facing the impacts of a labor shortage and high inflation, restaurants are striving to increase efficiency and reduce labor needs. This raises the question: should the entire design, operation, and usage of POS systems be reconsidered, or perhaps even eliminated altogether? I thoroughly enjoy brainstorming and discussing these kinds of ideas with Ting. His strategy is to offer different tiers of products for five main types of restaurant clients, allowing everything to be modular: online ordering, receipt printers, POS checkout systems, central system management for multi-location businesses, CRM management, self-service kiosks, and more. Each type of restaurant can get the product and pricing that best suits them, without being forced into a one-size-fits-all option. This is where Ting’s product design philosophy and strategy differ greatly from most other players in the market.

The Tough Battle for DotDot Pay

As mentioned earlier, the restaurant tech industry is limited by the local market’s economic conditions and scale, which means the potential for growth in Taiwan’s restaurant tech sector may be constrained. With this in mind, integrating fintech seems inevitable. This is the same success model demonstrated by companies like Square and Toast in the U.S. since 2009-11, both of which now have a market cap of tens of billions of dollars.

Before DotDot, Taiwan’s restaurant tech providers didn’t fully replicate the U.S. business model, likely because Taiwan’s banking system, through card machines or existing software payment systems, already covered non-cash payments for the top 30% of large restaurants. Additionally, with the launch of LINE Pay in Taiwan in 2015 and Apple Pay in 2017, restaurant payments had multiple options, making payments not an obvious pain point in need of solving.

While not the biggest pain point for customers, it was still an important business development choice for a restaurant tech startup. From the beginning, DotDot invested in the R&D of SoftPOS technology, which allows various mobile phones and tablet devices to become payment terminals through software. It took several years and nearly a million dollars to obtain certification from international card organizations, and in 2023, DotDot acquired a third-party payment license in Taiwan. Through DotDot Pay, DotDot aims to replicate the success of Toast and Square, becoming a restaurant fintech company.

However, this is undoubtedly a tough battle. LINE Pay made headlines in January this year with its record-breaking debut on the stock market in Taiwan, rising 195% in a single day. This is backed by LINE’s over 90% market share among instant messaging users in Taiwan, driving an annual transaction volume of NT$600 billion. In the restaurant industry, LINE Pay has a penetration rate of around 50-60%, mainly among small and medium-sized restaurants. LINE Pay’s success proves that there is a huge demand for non-cash payments in the SMB restaurant sector. For DotDot Pay, the challenge lies in the fact that the high-end restaurant segment is dominated by bank card machines, the SMB segment is dominated by LINE Pay’s large member base, and other online payment providers like TapPay and Green World are also eager to join the competition. This seemingly red-ocean competitive environment may explain why most restaurant tech providers have opted not to enter the fray.

DotDot Pay’s current advantage is its existing base of 15,000 merchants as its first batch of users, but Ting believes that ultimately, the competition will come back to the core of restaurant technology itself. Even if fintech companies offer products or incentives to restaurant merchants, DotDot can best serve them with its complete, modular product line.

This is a highly uncertain situation, but the one certainty is that we’ve known Ting for a long time, and we know he always finds leverage points, overcomes obstacles, and climbs even bigger mountains. Meanwhile, we are taking stock of the startup community AppWorks has built in Greater Southeast Asia over the past 15 years, which includes nearly 20 restaurant tech companies that can collaborate and move forward together. We often organize entrepreneur roundtables in this region for professionals in specialized fields. The most recent one was a restaurant tech gathering in Kuala Lumpur in August, where DotDot and several Southeast Asian restaurant tech startups met to discuss the possibilities. Collaboration in expanding abroad may be another path, and the AppWorks community is the best support for entrepreneurs.

For Ting, who welcomed a baby girl this year, it seems that good things are happening both personally and professionally. As old friends, we are happy to share in his joy and support him in this new and bigger chapter of his entrepreneurial journey.

撰文：AppWorks 東南亞團隊負責人 Sophie Chiu

AppWorks 與點點全球的創辦人謝瑞庭結識已久，平日更多稱呼他為 Ting。Ting 於 2014 年加入 AppWorks #10，彼時是帶著他的第三個創業題目愛物聯來參加。我們與 Ting 一起走過了 10 個年頭，今年有幸能參與並領投 Ting 目前經營的點點全球。本文將介紹這個投資決策的整體思量，包含對創辦人 Ting 的多年認識、餐飲科技的發展、與點點全球試圖打的硬仗。

連續創業者 Ting 的第三個篇章

身為一個連續創業者，Ting 的起點始於大學時期，1998 年加入當年非常有名的 pAsia 資迅人，參與開發全球第一個中文介面即時通訊軟體 CICQ 與拍賣網站酷必得，憑此資訊人獲得英特爾投資，在當年是台灣軟體創業史的傳奇之一，但也在網際網路泡沫時於 2000-2001 年劃下句點 (編按：資訊人創辦團隊 1999 年登上雜誌封面的意氣風發形象，就是當年激勵 AppWorks 創辦人 Jamie，與大學同學創辦碩網資訊的其中一個原因)。

資訊人的這段歷程啟蒙了 Ting 的創業之路，於是在碩士畢業前夕，Ting 又透過當時的交大校園網路策進會 CCCA 的友人得到一個商業機會，為聯電打造聯網大街，即員工福利金購物平台，成為了 Ting 在 2000 年的第二個創業題目達科數位，當時聯網大街平台消費金額 (GMV) 高達兩億台幣，並於兩年內出售。這便是 Ting 創業歷程的第一個篇章。

畢業後，Ting 由於股市失利 (經當事人同意揭露)，因此暫緩了創業的計畫，加入了廣達成為 IC 設計工程師，一共是 11 年的時光。這段 IC 與硬體設計的歷程給予 Ting 豐富的養分，從產品設計、客戶開發、到帶領團隊 (以及賺回當年失利的錢)，最後由於 Ting 與廣達在商業策略上的路線分歧，使得 Ting 決意離開優渥待遇並開啟了創業的第二個篇章。

帶著軟硬整合的技術能力，Ting 於 2014 年以自有資金創辦了愛物聯並加入 AppWorks 創業加速器第 10 屆，愛物聯主要為零售餐飲商家提供路由器與網路服務，由於技術的優異因而與台灣大哥大共同贏得台灣彩券合約；於 2016 又創立路遊數位並開發出旅遊移動專用的 WiFi 網路分享器。兩個生意都在 2-3 年內達到一定的市占率，跟 2000 年做聯網大街一樣，Ting 一直以來都很善於在 0-1 的創業方式中取得成績，把公司打造成獲利優異的小企業。

但 Ting 並不滿足於此。從許多愛物聯的客戶，Ting 發現中小餐飲面臨的需求與痛點尚未被滿足，而餐飲科技市場本身具有龐大的市場空間去讓 Ting 做更大的挑戰。2019 年 Ting 成立快一點 (後整體公司更名為點點全球)，專門服務中小型餐飲店家，引領台灣 QR 點餐的風潮。。而 2024 年更進一步推出 DotDot Pay 點點支付，點點全球成為台灣第一家非銀行機構推出軟體收款技術的支付公司，正式跨入了支付市場。

現在就是 Ting 創業的第三個篇章，從過往創立數個業績千萬台幣且有獲利的公司，現在要挑戰十分競爭的支付市場，來打造一個數億甚至數十億收入規模的公司。這不是一件容易的事，尤其 Ting 必須要不斷自我提升，他善於打游擊戰術並且在小領域獲得大成功，但支付市場無比競爭又有許多大型巨頭，需要的不只是升級的戰術，還有更大的決心。不過，與他相識十年的 AppWorks 同仁們都對他充滿信心，因為 Ting 一直以來都不輕言放棄，再難或複雜的案子他都能帶領團隊一一攻克，這背後也源自於 Ting 對餐飲客戶的深切暸解，為此 Ting 甚至開了一家早餐店，親自 (有時是太座，但後期就聘用專業人員) 站在煎台理解客戶所面臨到的所有營運痛點 (編按：目前早餐店持續經營中)，甚至曾拍攝影片教學餐廳如何有效殺蟑。

快一點的初期成功奠基於對餐飲商家痛點的深切了解

深切理解餐飲客戶其實是一個無比重要的關鍵，如此才能夠訂出最合適的產品與定價策略，尤其餐飲科技市場注定受限於當地的經濟水平，台灣甚或是東南亞市場，其客戶的願付能力遠低於先進國家，因此再多再好的軟硬體功能，可能都難以拉高產品售價。從 POS 產品單價來比較，在美國市場大約一個月的訂閱價格落在 US$60-250，在台灣這個區間是 US$35-65，東南亞 (不含新加坡) 則是 US$10-40。雖然工程師人力價格會在各地不同，但畢竟還是都需要相當人力來打造產品，這個單位經濟意味著大東南亞的創業者勢必要更加地錙銖必較。

這也是快一點最初在 2019 剛切進餐飲科技的第一個策略：比起高規格打造的科技產品全餐，客戶可能更需要的是一個簡單的模組直接解決它眼下最大的痛點。因此他們率先推出的是一台簡易的出單機，搭配使用 LINE 進行掃碼點餐。硬體背景導致他們的出單機自帶台廠最低成本 DNA，價格最親民；硬體整合的背景也使得這台出單機使用上完全無痛，插電即接單。快一點最初藉此橫掃中小型餐飲，如今擁有 1 萬 5 千多家客戶的支持與極低的退訂率。

快一點在中小餐飲界的成功，也顯示一個永恆的命題：對餐飲公司來說，科技產品永遠是一個成本開支項，只想要更便宜。隨著台灣面臨人口短缺、高通膨的影響，餐廳追求增加坪效、降低人力，是否整個連 POS 機台的設計、操作、與使用流程都應該重新被設計考慮，甚至不需要存在？我非常享受跟 Ting 經常做這樣的腦力激盪與討論。他的策略是為五大類型的餐飲客戶提供不同層級的產品選擇，讓所有的東西都可以模組化搭配：線上點餐、出單機、POS 結帳系統、中央系統管理分店體系、客戶 CRM 管理、無人點餐機…等等。每種店家都可以得到最適合自己的產品與訂價，而不用面臨單一的選擇，這也是 Ting 在產品設計初衷與戰略上與多數業者最大的不同。

從快一點到點點全球：點點支付這場硬仗

前述提到餐飲科技受限於當地市場的經濟水平與量體，以至於台灣的餐飲科技可能規模有限，基於這樣的考量，加入金融科技應當是在所難免。這也是美國的 Square 與 Toast 從 2009-11 年以來展現出來的成功模式，如今兩者市值都高達百億美金。

在快一點出現以前，台灣的餐飲科技業者並沒有完全仿照美國的商業模式，主因可能來自於台灣銀行體系透過刷卡機或現行的軟體支付系統已取得前 30% 大餐飲的非現金支付，且 LINE Pay 於 2015 年登台、Apple Pay 於 2017 落地台灣後，餐飲支付已有多元選擇，本身並不是一個明顯待被解決的痛點。

對客戶來說不是最大的痛點，但卻是對餐飲科技新創來說重要的商業發展選擇。快一點自成立初期就投入研發在 SoftPOS 技術，即透過軟體讓各種手機與平板設備都可以成為收款終端機。耗時數年與近百萬美元方取得國際卡組織認證，並於 2023 年在台灣取得第三方支付牌照。透過點點支付，快一點不再只餐飲 SaaS 公司，進化成為點點全球，試圖挑戰複製 Toast 與 Square 的成功模式，成為餐飲金融科技。

但這肯定是硬仗一場。LINE Pay 於今年一月掛牌締造興櫃紀錄，單日上漲 195%，背後是由 LINE Pay 在台灣的高滲透率與高達 6 千億台幣的年度交易金額所支持。在餐飲界，LINE Pay 約有 50-60% 的支付滲透率，多數是中小型餐飲，而 LINE Pay 的成功基本上證明了中小餐飲消費也有巨大的非現金支付需求。對點點支付來說，上 (高端餐飲) 有銀行刷卡機的高滲透率，下 (中小餐飲) 有 LINE Pay 挾帶巨大會員優勢，旁有線上支付業者如 TapPay、綠界也摩拳擦掌準備加入戰局。貌似紅海的競爭環境，也許解釋了為何多數餐飲科技業者並不打算加入。

點點支付現有的優勢是自身 1 萬 5 千個商戶作為第一批導入基礎，但 Ting 認爲最後這個競爭還是回到餐飲科技的本身，就算金融科技業者可以對餐飲商家提出產品或回饋誘因，點點全球還是能夠以完整多模組的產品線最好地服務餐飲商家。

這是一場不確定性很高的局勢，但唯一可以確定的是，我們認識 Ting 很久了，我們知道他總是能找到槓桿點、突破困境，攻下更大的山頭。於此同時，我們盤點 AppWorks 過去 15 年來在台灣與東南亞建立的新創社群，其中屬於餐飲科技有近 20 間，可以互通有無、一起前行。我們經常舉辦專業領域的創業者圓桌會議，最近一場便是 8 月份在吉隆坡的餐飲科技聚會，其中邀請點點全球與東南亞數個餐飲科技新創聚會討論，透過合作出海也許是另一條蹊徑，而 AppWorks 的社群是創業者最好的助力。 

對今年喜得龍女的 Ting 來說，取某前生仔後好事不只一樁，作為老朋友的我們，很開心可以分享他的喜悅，同時支持他在創業路上全新且更大的篇章。