Fintech
NIA Accelerates Thai FoodTech Startups to Steer Bangkok Towards Becoming FoodTech Silicon Valley Through SPACE-F Project
![](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/14-2.jpg)
The National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), Thailand or NIA continues its support in scaling up the FoodTech startups through the 2022 edition of the “SPACE-F” project. With aims to encourage investment opportunities for the Thai food sector and encounter global food security crisis, the agency targets to stimulate the use of deep tech as the main engine to drive Bangkok towards becoming the FoodTech Silicon Valley – an innovative food hub of Southeast Asia and the world.
Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of NIA said, “According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 report by the UN, more than 800 million of the world population, or around 10 percent, are now suffering from hunger in the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crisis, shortage of raw material, and the decline of food safety. If we focus on food security in Thailand and around the world during the COVID-19 outbreak, all countries are fronting the same distressing situations where travel restrictions have caused a shortage of food supply. And as the world’s population is increasing rapidly, coupled with climate change, the decline of agricultural labor, and food waste resulting from mass consumption; global food security is now a serious issue that needs to be solved.”
“Not only that Thailand has sufficient raw material to serve growing demands, the country also has a top-notch logistics service. These attributes make the Thai food industry exceptional and position Thailand as the kitchen of the world. Nonetheless, the utilization of innovation and technology in the food industry is not diverse and still lack of research and development. Most of the players in the sector are stuck at the SMEs level where their focuses are mainly on domestic consumption. The NIA, therefore, stepped in to encourage the use of innovation in this particular industry. Intending to feed the world through innovation, the ‘SPACE-F’ project has initiated in 2019 to incubate and accelerate the growth of FoodTech startups in Thailand. The project brings together FoodTech startups and corporates through innovative mentorship, business connections, and a co-working program. SPACE-F provides a prominent platform to encourage entrepreneurial startups to embrace deep tech and innovation to bring advancement to their business and the food industry. Selected startups then will be mentored to take on Southeast Asian and global markets,” Executive Director of the NIA explained.
He added that the deep-tech business in food and agriculture continues to enjoy its equal growth as the e-commerce and fintech worldwide, the food companies in Thailand also relish robust supply chains. Consequently, FoodTech startup incubation and acceleration is the key to secure global food security goals, as well as help drive Bangkok to become “FoodTech Silicon Valley” or “Food Innovation Hub of Southeast Asia and the World”. Dr. Pun-Arj is confident that Thailand’s capital will contribute as an important meeting ground for startups and investors in advanced food technology from around the world. Bangkok will also serve significantly as a locally-sourced raw material development center.
Over the first and second years of the project, NIA has facilitated a suitable and conducive ecosystem for the development of deep tech for the food industry. NIA contributes to supporting emerging innovation models from a group of startups with impressive solutions through key guidelines as follows:
- Encourage the creation of innovative products or services to support the demand of consumers and large cooperates. Innovative service helps attract joint venture investment, and enhance competitiveness as most competitors are often focused solely on innovative manufacturing. It is also an important guideline to help manage the restaurant and manufacturing to steer in the right direction.
- Provide mentorship for startups through various programs ranging from the Incubator mentorship where new face startups participating in the program will be advised on how to create an effective business model from start, the Accelerator mentorship sets to speed up the growth of startups by adding value to the existing business. Both of these approaches will allow Thai startups to obtain swift growth in the food sector.
- Attract foreign FoodTech startups to receive funding from Thai food companies, set up a company in Bangkok, and to further register as a Thai company. This will enable Thai entrepreneurs and startups to use more of deep-tech, learn international business models, and exchange innovative knowledge that is crucial for the sustainable growth of their food businesses.
- Cooperate with the private sector to drive Bangkok towards becoming “FoodTech Silicon Valley”, which is a way to create a brand image for Thai food innovations in addition to street food and attract long-term investment in terms of space utilization.
SPACE-F program supports innovative food businesses covering 9 key FoodTech trends, namely, Health & Wellness, Alternative Proteins, Smart Manufacturing, Packaging Solutions, Novel Food & Ingredients, Biomaterials & Chemicals, Restaurant Tech, Food Safety & Quality, and Smart Food Services.
“By the end of 2025, the FoodTech industry is expected to be worth 7.76 trillion baht. And with our vision and commitment to supporting the startup ecosystem, NIA will continue to drive Bangkok towards becoming the Food Silicon Valley using SPACE-F as the main mechanism. SPACE-F, initiated 3 years ago, has mentored more than 50 FoodTech startups to embrace innovation and technology for their growth. Graduates from the project are now blossoming and have received continued investment from the private sector, especially the Alternative Proteins. These new economic warriors will play pivotal roles in shaping the sustainable future of global food security,” Dr. Pun-Arj concluded.
Fintech
How to identify authenticity in crypto influencer channels
![](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/11.jpg)
Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.
In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.
-
Comments
There are several levels related to this point.
LEVEL 1
Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.
Just to compare:
LEVEL 2
Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.
LEVEL 3
It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.
LEVEL 4
Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.
2. Average views number per video
This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?
First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.
Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.
3. Influencer’s channel statistics
The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.
LEVEL 1
When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.
LEVEL 2
After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.
If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.
Example of statistics
Wrapping up
These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.
If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.
Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process.
Author
Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters
Fintech
Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space
![central-banks-and-the-fintech-sector-unite-to-change-global-payments-space](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/51859-central-banks-and-the-fintech-sector-unite-to-change-global-payments-space.jpg)
The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.
Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.
Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.
The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.
As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.
Source: fintech.globa
The post Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
Fintech
TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud
![td-bank-inks-multi-year-strategic-partnership-with-google-cloud](https://thefintechbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/51861-td-bank-inks-multi-year-strategic-partnership-with-google-cloud.jpg)
TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.
The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.
This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.
TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.
Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.
TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.
Source: fintechfutures.com
The post TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud appeared first on HIPTHER Alerts.
-
Latest News6 days ago
“Grand Huangshan” Debuts at the 2024 World Brand Moganshan Conference
-
Latest News6 days ago
AI-powered Panax raises $15m to reshape cash flow management
-
Latest News7 days ago
Yili’s 2023 Revenue Reaches 126.2 Billion Yuan, Leading Global Dairy Industry towards Healthy and Sustainable Development
-
Latest News6 days ago
Egypt’s Swypex launches an all-in-one fintech platform after $4m seed round
-
Latest News6 days ago
Sweden’s Mitigram names Pedram Tadayon as new CEO
-
Latest News6 days ago
Sobha Developers bring to Singapore an Exclusive Dubai Property Showcase
-
Latest News6 days ago
South African fintech Lesaka snaps up Adumo in $86m deal
-
Latest News6 days ago
Venom and KuCoin Ventures forge strategic partnership