Tech Bites: Week of July 18, 2022

NEWS

Procter & Gamble and Shopee kicked off P&G’s Regional Super Brand Day on Shopee with the launch of an enhanced virtual home shopping experience. Accessible via the P&G official store on both Shopee’s website and app, the virtual home shopping experience will include multi-format touch points including videos, gamification, and localised content in a bid to make online home shopping convenient and engaging for all. 

Foodpanda marked 10 years of operations in Asia this week with the official opening of its regional headquarters in Singapore, and the launch of the Foodpanda PowerUp! Tech Academy. The academy aims to grow the local tech talent pool, upskill riders and help merchants digitalise. 

AnyMind Group has announced a Series D fundraise of ¥4 billion (US$29.4m at USD1.00 = JPY136.63 (as of 30 June 2022)), following Series A and B rounds totaling US$62.3m. The company's Series C stock was issued for its acquisition of ENGAWA in January 2021. AnyMind Group has also secured a credit facility of ¥1 billion from Mizuho Bank for future use. Funds will be used to drive next-generation commerce by strengthening the company's move into the commerce enablement space and future M&As.  

A report by MiQ has found shopping behaviour has changed post-pandemic, with online shopping at an all-time high and spending set to significantly increase across Asia, including Singapore, China and India. More people in China and India are using online platforms to shop than in other nations, and most of them are in the younger demographic, aged 24 to 45. Across Asia, 86% of people in China, 70% of people in India and 60% of people in Singapore say they now regularly shop online, with the most popular buying categories of essential items, beauty products and personal care, fashion, consumer electronics and entertainment, home improvement and kids and baby products and toys, albeit in smaller numbers than during the pandemic. 

APPOINTMENTS AND WINS

Integral Ad Science has announced four senior appointments in the customer success team in Asia Pacific (APAC) to accelerate further business growth and superior customer service in the region. 

IAS has promoted Rob Kay to vice president of Customer Success APAC, Amanda Soh as head of Customer Success Southeast Asia (SEA), Hong Kong and Taiwan, and hired Andreas Duus Davidsen as Customer Success account director, SEA and Jessica Reid as Customer Success account director, Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).  

Audience engagement SaaS platform Komo has announced new business wins and four new hires in its team. New clients include Goodman Fielder, Body Science, and several other shopping centre groups which have subscribed to the Komo platform this month. To support its expanding business, Komo has hired across sales, account, and content creation profiles. Robbie Bridge joins as sales manager, Tom Morrison as account executive, Mahlee Kafoa and Komal Fatima come onboard as social media content creators.    

Dentsu China has bolstered its leadership with the appointment of Nicole Wang as the new chief operating officer, media. Wang joined Dentsu in 2016 as managing director, Vizeum, and worked her way up to lead China’s KSF (Master Kong) Noodle account, adding to her diverse client portfolio. In 2021, she was elevated to head of operations and commercial for Dentsu’s media brands. Wang will report directly to Deric Wong, CEO, Dentsu Media China.