Startups exemplify how to thrive, not just survive, amid Covid-19: Jungle's Amit Anand

WHEN Covid-19 infection rates began to spike in March, governments around the world swiftly imposed stringent travel and lockdown restrictions to flatten the infection-rate curve. But with the world on pause, the sudden absence of trade activity threw a wrench into the well-oiled global economic machine. Ramifications are still being felt worldwide.

For the startup system, which is particularly sensitive to economic disruption, this is bad news. Startups operate on limited human and financial resources. Often, they do not have the cash reserves to sit idle while still covering their overheads - and that is before taking weakened consumer sentiment into account.

Despite the gloomy outlook, there is always opportunity to be found in adversity. This is especially true in South-east Asia, where startups have learned to thrive amid ever-changing socio-economic and political epochs, even before this global health crisis.

As a venture capital firm that has closely tracked the region's ecosystem, we have seen that agility and innovation is what makes our portfolio companies built to last. Their ability to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic demonstrates a resilience that bodes well for the post-coronavirus economic renaissance in South-east Asia.

Product and business model innovation

There is no playbook for a humanitarian disaster of this scope. Countries are experimenting with responses to balance healthcare concerns and preserve their economy, uncovering novel issues that will require innovative solutions - which is what startups specialise in.

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The spike in demand for online services has led to businesses shifting their resources to online channels.

This guided London-based Builder.ai's development of The Studio Store, a range of pre-packaged apps designed to help small businesses build and launch retail apps quickly without requiring extensive coding experience. Currently, their e-commerce and delivery apps have built-in features such as payment and courier integration.

Essential services need help adapting their business continuity processes to cope with the pandemic as they continue operating. Crayon, a big-data and artificial-intelligence startup, created a Covid Business Continuity Plan Dashboard for one of Myanmar's largest banks.

The application enables the bank to track employee, branch and customer health through web-based forms. It also periodically refreshes bank data in real time to manage customer traffic, maintain workplace social distancing and conduct contact tracing.

With many schools closed, parents are struggling to balance working at home and parenting. In Singapore, 3D animation studio One Animation has risen to the occasion by creating more content around their Emmy-nominated animated comedy, Oddbods, to keep kids busy.

It has produced free activity kits, released new episodes for free, and even developed an augmented reality app to gamify the daily routine and take some of the stress off parents.

Community contributions

In a time where rapid response is vital to managing this unprecedented crisis, the inherently flexible nature of startups places them in a strong position to adapt and enhance their offerings to benefit society.

RedDoorz, a regional accommodation booking platform in South-east Asia, started the "Red Heroes" initiative in Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines to provide free temporary accommodation and health kits for frontliners.

It also launched the HygienePass programme to certify properties meeting stringent hygiene procedures; it also initiated Hope Hotline, a mental-health support programme to help its employees and hotel partners manage the emotional and psychological stress caused by the realities of Covid-19.

Thailand-based fashion platform Pomelo launched the Pomelo Cares initiative, under which it produces and donates cloth masks using its existing supply chain. All proceeds from these masks are used to purchase and donate medical supplies to hospitals and other medical organisations.

The Pomelo Cares initiative also accepts public cash donations to help fund the Thai Red Cross, Singapore Red Cross and Indonesian Medical Association.

Anticipating the future

Lockdowns were necessary to curb the COVID-19 spread, but they will not last forever. The World Health Organization has warned that the coronavirus will be around for some time yet, and so the new challenge for businesses will be how to navigate this "new normal".

The easing of lockdown measures means the workforce is returning to the office, but social distancing is still a concern. Singapore-based real estate startup Saltmine has created new social-distancing features for its integrated cloud-design software to help businesses design and reconfigure workspaces to keep their employees safe.

Features such as Social Distance Rings and Smart Collision Detection help identify areas that are non-compliant with social-distancing requirements.

The pandemic put a pause on expansion plans for many startups, but not for Moglix, an India-headquartered B2B marketplace for industrial supplies.

Realising that there was a supply gap for personal protective equipment (PPE) in coronavirus responses around the world, Moglix increased its efforts to support healthcare personnel by accelerating its expansion into the United Kingdom and European markets, making PPE more readily available to more than five million people in over 20 countries worldwide.

Stirred, but not shaken

With a US$100 billion Internet economy that continues to grow at breakneck rates, the most engaged mobile Internet users in the world and enhanced Internet access, South-east Asia is a land of opportunity for tech startups.

There is a reason that Asia is home to over a third of the world's 331 unicorns and why it is the startup growth market to watch - because Asian startups recognise that adaptability is the key to survival.

It is true that the pandemic has thrown a curveball at this emerging ecosystem, but I am confident that the startups which successfully weather its storm will come back smarter, stronger and more resilient.

As the trailblazers of new technologies, processes and solutions, I foresee that startups will lead the way forward in guiding South-east Asia into the new normal, and the resulting accelerated technological maturity will cement the region's potential as a hub for global innovation.

The writer is co-founder and managing partner of Jungle Ventures, a South-east Asia focused venture-capital firm.