Echelon’s TOP100 2024 Boasts A More Mature Program In Its 10th Edition As First 26 Startups Are Revealed

SINGAPORE, 6 March 2024 - Echelon, the premier tech and startup conference in Southeast Asia organized by e27, has announced the first 26 shortlisted participants in its TOP100 Program for 2024. Launched in 2012, the TOP100 is a curated growth program for startups across the region to gain visibility, mentorship, and funding opportunities. From cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, this year’s participants span beyond Southeast Asia, with startups from India, Bangladesh, and Taiwan emerging. “We are proud to see applicants and candidates emerge from beyond our traditional Southeast Asian borders. This goes to show the impact we have made on startups across Asia”, said Mohan Belani, CEO and Co-Founder of e27. “We have a pool of very impressive applicants, and the 26 shortlisted startups are poised to revolutionize their respective fields. This makes us very excited to see what the rest of the program will bring.”

The first 26 shortlisted participants include startups from Laos, the Philippines, and Malaysia along with Singaporean applicants. The list includes names such as Careera (Singapore), Fina Fintech (Laos), Edge Tutor (the Philippines), dentall Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), The Mango Jelly (India), PriyoShop (Bangladesh), Talent Hero Ventures (Singapore), among others.

These startups will participate in the TOP100 program in March, where they will have the privilege of exclusive access to events, mentorship, workshops, and 800+ investors on the e27 PRO Connect platform. They will also be active participants at Echelon X through their exhibition booths and will have a chance to showcase their ideas on the Pitch Stage during the milestone 10th event in Singapore on 15-16 May 2024.

Over the years, the program has witnessed the participation and showcasing of various notable players in today’s startup ecosystem such as 99.co, Edukasyon.ph, FOMO Pay, Lalamove, Gojek, Carousell, and Carro. Priyoshop, a participant in 2023, has since gone on to raise US$ 5 million in funding. Priyoshop is now, joining the stage in 2024 too, to get another boost to their growth.

In its 10th year, the program has evolved to match the dynamic landscape, focusing on providing a multitude of opportunities curated to meet the needs of more mature startups. This includes workshops and mentoring aimed at fostering business resilience and sustainable growth. "The TOP100 Program gives us an opportunity to support and collaborate with the up-and-coming startups across the region. This year, we have a very promising initial group of startups, and we eagerly anticipate revealing more startups to you soon”, added Belani.

Carousell Property Awards 2023 Honors Trailblazers in Real Estate

Carousell Property Awards is back once again to recognize the innovators and trailblazers in real estate who have shaped cities and communities for the better. Now on its third year, the annual recognition awards celebrates the extraordinary feats in the world of Philippine real estate.

“The Carousell Property Awards is a monument to the hard work, imagination, and unshakable devotion of people who pursue perfection in each and every brick laid and every space crafted. As we make our way through the tales of tenacity and innovation, let us celebrate you for your achievements that have not only redefined skylines but have also contributed to the nation's progress and broadened horizons,” shared Shine Resurreccion, Carousell Philippines’ market representative.

This year, some of the biggest names in the real estate industry  bagged multiple awards, starting with SM Development Corporation (SMDC) whose condominium properties were given special recognition under the “Development Awards” category: Bloom Residences for Best Wellness Residential, Gem Residences for Best Integrated Work from Home Development, Vail Residences which won Best Affordable Condominium, Twin Residences with Best Mid-Range Condominium, and Gold Residential – Offices won Best Highend Condominium.

In the same category, Dolmar Land was recognized as Best Affordable Housing for its project Northgrove Hills, and Best Mid-Range Housing for Bella Vista. PH1 World Developers was also a big winner as it was awarded Best Green Development and Best Housing Development for its project, North Scapes San Jose Del Monte. Isoc Land Inc. went home with two awards, namely, Best Design Condominium and Value for Investment Metro Manila for its project I-Land Residences Sucat. In Davao, Aeon Luxe Properties won Value for Investment and Best Luxury Condominium. 

Also recognized under the Development Awards category was Cityland Development Corporation which was named Best Lifestyle Development for Pioneer Heights 1; Shang Properties was named Best Luxury Development in Metro Manila for Shang Residences at Wack Wack. Completing the winners in the category is Regus PH which won Best Services Offices. 

Various developers were also recognized for their unwavering efforts and contribution to the Philippine real estate landscape. Under the “Developer Awards” category, SMDC was named the Best Developer Philippines, Empire East Land Holdings won Best Developer Metro Manila, Aboitiz Land Inc. was recognized as Best Developer Visayas, Aeon Luxe Properties won Best Developer Mindanao, Eton Properties won Best Mixed Used Developer, while RLC Residences was named Best Sustainable Developer

Under the “Brokerage Awards” category SN Homefinders won Highly Recommended Real Estate Agency while Nel Realty won Most Trustworthy Real Estate Agency. Lastly, BPI was also given a special award as the Highly Recommended Bank for Home Loans.

The awards ceremony concluded with heartfelt messages from Carousell property category team leader Melizza Hernandez and Bernadette Pambuan: “For many years, Carousell has been the preferred online platform of real estate developers, agents and customers searching for property listings. It is because of their unwavering trust in us that we continue to be the leading buying and selling platform in the country.”

Carousell Property offers over 120,000 sale and rental listings from both developers and direct home owners across almost 500 cities and suburbs across the country that you can search for in the comfort of your home. The platform also curates complementary categories such as furniture and moving services, so you can find all that you need in one app.

To know more about Carousell, visit https://www.carousell.ph/

5 Great Perks of Working from Home

It has been a year since most of the companies in the country shifted to a work-from-home (WFH) setup, and despite being the best alternative to stay safe while working, not everybody thinks it makes the best employment arrangement.

There are a lot of things and activities that are terribly missed when working in a physical office, but working at home has great perks as well. Carousell Philippines, the country’s leading online classified platform, created this video of its employees, showing how they have been thriving while working from home for the past year.

1. You can spruce up your workstation any way you want

In a WFH setup, you are your own boss -- in designing your home office, at least -- as you can arrange your workstation to your preferred style. Shares Rapha Lomotan, brand/social strategist, “I set up my home office with my BTS collection in the backdrop, which really inspires me every day because I get to see my idols whenever I work.”

2. You get to adopt a new hobby or just do more of what you really love

You can use the extra hours to do your favorite activities that you would only have time for during weekends. “Now I can easily get my neighbors to play with my board games. That actually saves time, since we can really play right away,” explains Joans Mateo, auto leads.

With your free time, you can also discover new hobbies and activities that you didn’t get the chance to do pre-pandemic. “I now utilize the hours I used to spend for commuting to get more rest and to learn a new hobby to improve myself,” narrates Audrey Martinez, regional marketing associate.

3. You get to bond more with your family

Probably the best benefit to working from home is being closer to your family and having more time to bond with them. Says Karl Magsuci, head of autos, “With a WFH setup, I get to see my son every day and spend time with him as I work.”

4. You no longer get stuck in horrible traffic

Employees who transitioned to working from home get a break from Manila’s daily traffic congestion. Relates Marita Galvez, fashion lead, “I just realized how stressful it is to go to work and begin the day already tired or in a bad mood because of the traffic.Today my commute is super light -- I just wake up, get ready, and just walk three steps to my home office.”

5. You can be more focused at your job within the safety of home

A WFH setup allows you to do your work tasks with more concentration, safely. Carousell Philippines general manager Raffy Montemayor says this is the most important pro when they decided to shift to this work arrangement.

“It is our mission to make buying and selling online more accessible for every Filipino, and do it safely not only for our customers but also for our employees who serve them. Carousell Philippines is continuing its100% work from home setup the entire 2021 and will extend this to 2021 if needed, to continue providing for our customers’ needs while keeping in mind the safety of our employees,” explains Montemayor.

If there’s one thing the pandemic has taught Filipino employees, it is making everything work despite the limitations they face and continue doing their jobs the best way they can. Along the way, they are able to discover new ways to effectively serve others and even better ways to improve themselves as individuals.

Carousell is now hiring! For more information about jobs in Carousell, visit here.

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About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and is now one of the world's largest and fastest growing marketplaces in eight markets across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Carousell is backed by Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, Sequoia Capital India, and Naspers. In the Philippines, OLX joins Carousell to bring consumers a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including autos, property, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.

Carousell PH Partners with Go Negosyo

Carousell Philippines, the country’s leading classifieds platform, recently partnered with Go Negosyo for its participation in “Sign Up! Angat Lahat Sa Digital” mobile app summit and expo. This year’s summit aims to gather mobile app platforms that help micro-entrepreneurs become self-earning in the digital economy. It will also highlight the impact of platforms in helping achieve inclusive growth and prosperity for all. The mobile app summit and expo will gather more than 100 participating digital and mobile app platforms at the World Trade Center. Present during the partnership were senior adviser for ASEAN BAC and Angat Lahat Sa Digital adviser Josephine Romero, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, and Carousell Philippines head of general classifieds Tina Bautista.

Carousell Tackles Counterfeit

Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds, has launched the Carousell Rights Owners Programme (CROP), a platform that tackles counterfeit listings in collaboration with brand partners. CROP provides assurance to brands, whose rights are more closely protected, and users, who can deal with greater confidence in the marketplace platform.

CROP allows trusted brand partners to directly remove listings of brand replicas from Carousell with zero processing time, thus tightening the content moderation process by drastically reducing the time required for takedowns. First piloted in December 2018 in Singapore, CROP has taken down 13,000 listings in the nine months since its introduction. Only select brand partners, whose activities will be closely monitored by Carousell, will have access to CROP and its content moderation capabilities. Brands that have come onboard CROP include Nike, Grab and luxury brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta.

“We want to create a trusted marketplace platform and protect Carousellers from inadvertently purchasing counterfeits or unauthorised goods, while at the same time protecting brands’ rights. CROP allows us to proactively address both these issues seamlessly, eliminating any delay in action altogether. Once a listing has been deemed counterfeit and removed directly by the brand through CROP, the seller will automatically receive an email to notify them of the takedown due to their item’s infringement of Intellectual Property (IP) rights,” said Serena Darcel Chin, Head of Legal, Carousell.

Carousell’s existing counterfeit policy prohibits the sale of fake products, replicas or counterfeits and the creation of any content that violates any intellectual property rights. However, prior to CROP there was a longer process from the flagging of an item to the actual takedown, as its URL had to be first submitted to Carousell’s brand protection team for processing. To ensure swift action, Carousell is looking to further streamline and automate CROP’s processes in the near future.

“Trust and safety continues to be a key priority for Carousell. Carousell has been collaborating with and supporting the Police's efforts in combating the sale of counterfeit goods on its platform. We are invested in building a holistically safe and conducive environment for buying and selling and have seen very promising results from our combined efforts to tackle counterfeits,” said Raffy Montemayor, General Manager, Carousell Philippines.

CROP is the latest development Carousell’s series of dedicated efforts in building a trusted environment for its users. Besides CROP, Carousell has also invested resources in Sift Science (a third party service provider) and manual moderation teams to help combat counterfeits on the platform.

About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in six markets across Asia. With over 250 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Naspers, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including cars, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.

Increase in E-Wallet Users in Malaysia According to Carousell Survey

·       Over 50% of Carousellers are E-wallet users

·       GrabPay, Touch n’ Go eWallet, and Boost Lead the Pack

Kuala Lumpur, 20 December 2018 - Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds marketplaces, conducted a voluntary response in-app survey on e-wallets with its Malaysian users recently and found that there is a group that keeps more than RM250 in their e-wallets. This proves there is a sizeable segment of frequent e-wallet users.

“We present an analysis of our Malaysian users’ fascinating perception and usage habits of e-wallets, from how many are using them to the amount of float they keep on them. We also look at some of the more popular e-wallets including, GrabPay, Touch n’ Go eWallet and Boost,” said Tang Siew Wai, Country Head of Carousell Malaysia.

About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in seven markets across Asia. With over 171 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. In Malaysia, Carousell has a diverse range of products in 34 categories, including fashion & beauty, lifestyle gadgets and muslimah fashion. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.

Carousell Brings Community Groups Together for Orphans of Ti-Ratana Welfare Society

Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds marketplaces, brought Star Wars Malaysia Fan Club (SWMFC), Easy Parcel, Pgeon Delivery and various influencers together to Ti-Ratana Welfare Society (Ti-Ratana) in Salak South today as part of their ongoing #PrelovedwithLove donation drive to treat the orphans to an array of fun activities.

The drive was launched recently by Carousell for selected charities across its seven markets and over 40 orphans from Ti-Ratana were treated with a day of fun-filled activities such as Light SabreTraining by SWMFC along with caricature and Sand Art.

“We are delighted to receive tremendous support from the public and the various fan clubs for this drive. Our platform can do more than just assist Malaysians to buy and sell, but also gather the power of the community for worthy causes. Community is at the heart of everything that is Carousell and we hope that more Malaysians will join us in our efforts to build a stronger community to help the orphans of Ti-Ratana,” said Tang Siew Wai, Country Head of Carousell Malaysia.

“Carousell has set a precedent by leveraging on technology to connect people all across Malaysia for this worthy cause. I am very confident that this will open more doors for us to obtain the items that we need through public participation. We would like to thank everyone that has contributed to this campaign, and we hope that more will utilise this platform to help those in need,” said Datuk K. Sri Dhammaratana, founder of Ti-Ratana.  

Ti-Ratana is a community service society that was set up in the spirit of compassion to both serve and provide shelter, education and care to the underprivileged. It is also a voluntary, not-for-profit, non-partisan and non-denominational organisation offering a wide scope of community services.

Members of the public who are interested in participating in the campaign can list their items on Carousell with the hashtag #PrelovedwithLove tagged with an RM0 price tag. Members of the Ti-Ratana will select the items needed from the listings where EasyParcel will collect and deliver the items on a complimentary basis.

For more information and to participate in the campaign, visit https://my.carousell.com or 

download the Carousell app on Apple Store or Google Play Store.

About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in seven markets across Asia. With over 171 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. In Malaysia, Carousell has a diverse range of products in 34 categories, including fashion & beauty, lifestyle gadgets and muslimah fashion. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.

About Ti-Ratana Welfare Society

Ti-Ratana Welfare Society is a charitable organisation registered on 9th February 1994 under the Registrar of Societies Act. It has a President and committee elected yearly by its members to oversee its operations, with Chief High Priest Most Ven. Datuk K. Sri Dhammaratana Nayake Maha Thera as its Founder and Advisor.

CAROUSELL PARTNERS BOOST E-WALLET, POSTCO, TO DELIVER A MORE CONVENIENT EXPERIENCE TO MALAYSIANS

Carousell Malaysia, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds marketplace is making it even easier to buy and sell on the marketplace. Carousell has teamed up with strategic partners, Boost and PostCo, to address payment and logistics across Malaysia.

Boost, a homegrown e-wallet that allows payment without the hassle of cash, and PostCo, a logistics company that delivers parcels through its network of more than 1,000 locations which include cafes, pharmacies and stores, inked a cross-promotional partnership deal with Carousell in August.

The promotion includes Cashback Rewards for purchases made on Carousell with Boost, as well as a special delivery rate for Carousellers who choose the delivery option via PostCo.

“This is a stepping stone for Carousell Malaysia to provide an end-to-end service for our users. We are committed to creating value for our users and make it more convenient to buy and sell. This trial phase has seen a positive response from users, and we will continue looking for opportunities to improve our marketplace and services to Malaysian Carousellers,” said Tang Siew Wai, Country Head of Carousell Malaysia.

He added that the partnership will run till the end of September, but the company has not ruled out a long-term deal.

Carousell continues to gain traction in Malaysia. For the month of August, it saw total transactions and listings grow by 20% and 30% respectively from the previous month. Response to the strategic nationwide collaboration has been encouraging, with PostCo recording a 47% repeat in Carousellers utilising its delivery services just after a month of partnership and Boost seeing full redemptions in their promotional offers.

Carousell has more than 19 million listings for its Malaysian market as of June 2018, with over 5 million items sold on the marketplace. Globally, it has over 158 million listings and over 54 million items sold across all seven markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia.

“This partnership marks another milestone in our journey to strengthen our leadership in the e-wallet space and enhance our offerings,” said Christopher Tiffin, Chief Executive Officer of Boost. “Boost simplifies your day-to-day operations by allowing you to manage your cash flow with just one app. With their engaged community and wide variety of marketplace offerings, collaborating with Carousell was a natural move for us. Since the start of our partnership to date, we’ve seen an almost four-fold increase in Boost mentions in Carousell.”

“Our partnership with Carousell provides their sellers with a unique avenue to deliver their items through our network of PostCo locations. It is great to see how much convenience it has offered to the community of sellers on Carousell. Once someone finds it convenient, they will continue to utilise the service for their remaining deliveries. Aside from sending, we also allow buyers to collect their parcels at a specified pick-up point at any time, be it before, during or after working hours. We believe that PostCo will also continue to play a pivotal role for Carousell users in a long run,” said Melisa Wang, Chief Operating Officer of PostCo.

Carousell users can now buy from sellers that accept Boost as a payment option by easily entering the seller’smobile number in the payment app, selecting the Carousell icon and inserting the purchase details. Moreover, sellers can have their first three parcels delivered from only RM1.90 when they send via PostCo.

For more information, follow Carousell on https://my.carousell.com or download the Carousell app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.

About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in seven markets across Asia. With over 158 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. In Malaysia, Carousell has a diverse range of products in 34 categories, including fashion & beauty, lifestyle gadgets and muslimah fashion. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.

About Boost

Boost is a homegrown lifestyle e-wallet that aims to revolutionise the way consumers transact on a daily basis. Combining lifestyle needs and cutting edge digital technology, Boost strives to make transactions easier, faster, more secure & overall a more rewarding experience for consumers.

Boost officially launched in January 2017 as a platform that digitised one of the telco’s core services - the way prepaid users top up their mobile credit. Boost allows users to pay via their mobile phone at participating locations without the hassle of using physical cash or cards. More than 3 million Boost users can now pay at more than 35,000 touchpoints nationwide.

Key features include:

●      Cashback

●      Paying utility bills with partners such as Telekom Malaysia, Astro and Syabas

●      Paying for parking (most major streets around Klang Valley)

●      Instant rewards through “Shake” feature

●      Donations to #DoGoodwithBoost

●      Buying and gifting digital vouchers for online merchants, F&B outlets, entertainment,health & beauty

●      Splitting bills through unique feature “Go Dutch”

●      Buying prepaid top up

●      Free money transfers

Android users can download Boost from the Play Store while iOS users can download from the App Store.

For more information, check out the website at https://www.myboost.com.my/ or follow Boost on Facebook(https://www.facebook.com/myboostapp/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/myboostapp/).

About PostCo

PostCo provides a convenient way to collect, send and return your parcel at nearby local stores instead of the post office. We have a network of more than 1000+ partner locations based in petrol stations, pharmacies, cafes and other local shops across Malaysia and Singapore.

#MYCYBERSALE SHOPPING SPREE ON CAROUSELL

Malaysians can now embark on a shopping spree  in conjunction with the MYCyberSale 2018. Happening from 3 September 2018 to 7 September 2018, buyers can stretch their Ringgit for amazing deals on Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds marketplace.

The five-day mega sale for various products can be found on Carousell:

Categories:

Fashion: https://caro.sl/MYCyberSaleFashion

Health & Beauty: https://caro.sl/MYCyberSaleBeauty

Home & Furniture: https://caro.sl/MYCyberSaleHome

Gadgets: https://caro.sl/MYCyberSaleGadgets

But wait, there’s more!

RM5.90 Flat-Rate Shipping Promo throughout September with EasyParcel

Parcels can be shipped at a flat-rate of RM5.00 and RM5.90 with Pgeon Delivery and EasyParcel respectively throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

Valid from 1 September 2018 to 30 September 2018, this partnership between Carousell Malaysia and EasyParcel will also reward Carousell sellers with a free RM10 credit for every RM100 credit top-up in their delivery account. This is limited to a one-time redemption per user.

For more information, visit Carousell on https://my.carousell.com , or download the Carousell app from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.

About Carousell

Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in seven markets across Asia. With over 158 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and is backed by Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, DBS and EDBI. In Malaysia, Carousell has a diverse range of products in 34 categories, including fashion & beauty, lifestyle gadgets and muslimah fashion. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visitwww.carousell.com for more information.