Pinstorm – An Amalgamation of Digital Marketing & Technology

Take a multi-billion dollar digital marketing industry, add industry veterans, mix it well with technology and sprinkle it with an industry award and you get an exciting and rapidly growing company – Pinstorm, a company that originated in India and has its APAC headquarters in Singapore.

Pinstorm was founded in 2005 by Mahesh Murthy, who was Country Head of Channel V, and also runs Seedfund, an early-stage venture capital fund in India. They were one of the 31 asian companies to have won the Red Herring Top 100 Global award this year.

Now, Red Herring awards are usually bestowed upon innovative technology companies which was why, it piqued my interest to see how a digital marketing firm got into this space and was recognized as a technology firm. They are also, the only digital brand management firm to have won this award. I spoke to Geetha Sethi, APAC head of Pinstorm to understand this interesting concoction of web products with digital marketing services.

Technology

Pinstorm provides Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Interactive Digital Display Advertising, Social Media Marketing Campaigns and Online Reputation Management services to their clients. In order to provide these services, they have developed a broad spectrum of proprietary tools in-house.

For example, they have developed a tool called LiveBanner, which falls under the category of Interactive Digital Display Advertising to help clients display their services across various platforms. This tool was used by CNN to display real-time news that engages the user. This banner could be seen on Yahoo, MSN, LinkedIn and host of other portals.

BroadWords is another proprietary technology that lets them deploy ad campaigns across different channels with low cost. This tool helps in finding out relevant yet low-priced key words for the clients. To cite a use-case, one of their clients required a particular set of keywords that were essential to them. Even after bidding for 21 cents a click, they were at a low position on the page and were hardly getting more than 1000 clicks a month. That’s when they used BroadWords to identify what they call “virgin” keywords, which were being bid for only 5 cents. Afterwhich, one keyword alone generated about 8000 clicks a month.

Similary they have host of other technologies that does personal searching, twitter monitoring, geo tracking, competitive analysis, social media monitoring and a lot more technology driven services.

Their clients and partners list is nothing less than impressive and are spread across different verticals. Some of their clients include DBS, HSBC bank, NUS, INSEAD, ebay, National Geographic.

Digital marketing products Vs Digital marketing firms

In the digital marketing/advertising landscape, we have product-based companies that cater to a particular need for their clients. ThoughtBuzz, JamiQ are examples of such companies that focus solely on social media brand monitoring. Also, products like myADengine compete indirectly in this space.  Can these companies co-exist or will they cannibalize each other?

Firms such as Pinstorm provides a service to their clients and products is a part of their offering. Their main value proposition lies in providing holistic solutions that solve a particular need. Whereas, digital marketing product companies are selling a product first with consulting services as an add-on. There is a fine-line between the two and is hard to say which approach is better. It is largely dependent on the varied needs of the clients and their budgets for such services.

In my opinion with regards to Pinstorm, each individual technology does not stand out as innovative or anything to write home about. But, it’s the way they cleverly integrate all the pieces of software to provide a holistic solution to their clients, that sets them apart.

[img courtesy: Dynamic Business]

Founder Institute Extends Deadlines for Paris, Singapore and Denver

Founder Institute just announced that they will be extending the deadlines for Founder applications in Paris, Singapore and Denver. As mentioned by Founder Institute, this is because they have received multiple qualified applicant requests. However, the Los Angeles semester has been closed and sessions will be starting next week.

The deadlines for Paris and Singapore have been extended to next Sunday, March 7th and the deadlines for Denver have been extended to Sunday, April 4th. For those of you still keen on applying for their programs, you can follow the links below.

Singapore: http://www.founderinstitute.com/apply/11
Paris: http://www.founderinstitute.com/users/new?target=10
Denver:  http://www.founderinstitute.com/apply/9

Top 10 Finalists for Ultimate Startup Space

Back in December last year, a non web based startup-related event caught my attention. It had nothing to do with the usual startups or business plan events I was previously familiar with. Instead, it combined a unique mix of education, finance and a physical location to bring together a well mixed and unique startup event that I really like. If you still have not heard about the Ultimate Startup Space, you should definitely check it out. If you are thinking of applying, you might be disappointed to know that applications are already closed and the organizers recently announced the Top 10 finalists for the event. Check out some of the videos below:

RADIOactive
Rate them here: http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/1

Amnesia
Rate them here: http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/7

Bon Soir Dark Dining
Rate them here: http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/3

Hemeryx – The Bar that Connects
Rate them here: http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/1

OliveScreens
Rate them here: http://www.ultimatestartupspace.com.sg/#/rate-entry/5

If you are keen to check out the rest of the entries, follow this link to the gallery.

[Video] Yahoo Open Hack Day Southeast Asia

Yahoo held their first ever Southeast Asia Open Hack Day in Jakarta in late November, much to the delight of developers around the region. Apart from the hacking sessions, the developers were introduced to new tools to build better apps and they got plugged into much larger community of developers. For most of the attendees there, it was their first time participating in such an event and many would love to be part of it again in future. Among the 350+ developers present, 4 of them were lucky enough to have been been flown from all over Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore) just to attend the event and hack with the rest of the developers. The video showcases these 4 developers, their experiences at the Hack Day and what they got out of it. It was a swell experience for them, and for me as well since I got the opportunity to be at the event and cover it. Enjoy the video and thanks Yahoo for a great Open Hack Day experience!

Great coverage of the event by Yahoo >> Link here

2010 Google Analytics Master Class on Actionable Insights in Singapore and Malaysia

I just got word that Google will be holding their analytics master class on Tuesday, 9th March, at the Meritus Mandarin Orchard, Ballroom 1. Apparently, it’s a must-attend event if you run a web based business and you want to really understand how best to utilize your web analytics data. Sneha and I are definitely attending it and I feel that startups and online business owners out there should do too. They are featuring a range of speakers including the Product Manager for Google Analytics, Beth Liebert, who is flying down just for this.

Interested participants can sign up at the following sites:

Singapore
Date: Tuesday, 9th March 2010
Location: Meritus Mandarin Orchard, Ballroom 1
Details: https://sites.google.com/site/analyticsmasterclass/singapore

Kuala Lumpur:
Date: Thursday, 11th March 2010
Location: Hilton Hotel, Ballroom A, Kuala Lumpur
Details: https://sites.google.com/site/analyticsmasterclass/malaysia

More Details: http://cse-sea.blogspot.com/2010/02/google-analytics-master-class-is-back.html

From what I heard, last years class in Singapore (which was the first in Southeast Asia) was way oversubscribed, hence I think this year’s one will be too. So do sign up early!

The agenda for the Singapore event is attached below for easy reference. See ya there!

Former Director of MySpace Mobile Joining Garena as Chief Product Officer

Ulf Waschbusch, the former Director of MySpace Mobile, will be joining Singapore based gaming startup Garena as their Chief Product Officer. Garena operates one of the world’s leading online competitive e-sports hub for gamers to compete against each other wherever they are in the world by transforming the internet into a massive virtual cybercafe. Founded in March 2007, the company boasts over 25 million registered users from over 200 countries, making Garena software one of the most popular online game software and making Garena community one of the biggest international gamer communities in the world.

While in Singapore, Ulf will be concentrating on extending the product into new feature areas and countries. His past accolades include his stint at Google, where he was the Product Marketing Manager for mobile. This is where he led worldwide marketing for most of Google’s mobile consumer products (Google Search, iPhone,Youtube, SMS, News, Sync and Gmail for mobile, mobile.google.com). He also did Product Marketing Management at T-Mobile, just after he finished his MBA at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Looks like all the former MySpace chaps are keen on finding their way to Singapore. Brad Greenspan, the Founder and former CEO of MySpace, is currently in Singapore as well working on his incubator, Social Slingshot. It is great to see Asian startups attracting top notch people from US based companies, a trend I believe will continue to grow over the next couple of year.

Singapore Budget 2010 – What’s In It For Startups and Investors?

Singapore finance minister, Mr. Tharman Shanmugarathnam announced the annual budget recently with major focus on growth of skills, productivity and innovation. Considering the fact that government agencies have been taking a lot of initiatives to nurture startups and bring in more mentors and investors to Singapore, Budget 2010 is definitely on the right monetary path to execute this vision.

While the community in the past has been griping about the lack of talent, innovation and mentors. We have to wait and watch if this year’s budget will lead to any significant change.

Here are the relevant parts of Budget 2010 that we thought would be useful for investors and start-up community.

Improving Access to Growth Finance

D.26. Companies aspiring to grow and eventually become significant players in markets abroad need capital at various stages of their development. Existing schemes like SPRING’s Local Enterprise Finance Scheme are working well. Following the ESC’s recommendations, we will strengthen the availability of both growth capital to young companies and financing for companies’ expansion overseas, including to emerging markets.

D.27. One of the hurdles companies face – not only in Singapore, but in many countries – is in securing finance at a very early stage of their growth. In recent years, there has been a shift in the venture capital industry towards later stage companies, especially towards those at the mezzanine stage, in other words, pre-IPO. To bridge the gap, we will help strengthen the availability of early-stage and more patient financing.

Attracting investors to nurture start-ups

D.28. We want to encourage greater angel investment, by incentivising private individuals with appropriate investment and business expertise to provide financing to start-ups. Angel investing is at the higher end of the risk spectrum, with less assurance of returns. Successful angel investors nurture start-ups not just by contributing funds, but also by providing mentorship, and access to business networks and markets. We have a few well-known angel investors in Singapore, and we want to encourage more investors who can add value to start-ups.

D.29. I will therefore introduce a new incentive for angel investors. Under this incentive, an eligible angel investor who commits a minimum of $100,000 of equity investment in a qualifying start-up in a given year can claim 50% tax deduction on his investment at the end of a two-year holding period. This deduction is subject to a cap of $500,000 of investments in each Year of Assessment. SPRING will administer the scheme for eligible angel investors and qualifying start-ups. The scheme will be available for the next five years and is expected to cost the Government $60 million over the period.

Catalysing growth capital for SMEs

D.30. Companies also need growth capital beyond the start-up phase. The Government will help catalyse financing for companies that have achieved initial success and are looking to scale up. However, the Government cannot pick winners. Our role will be that of co-investor, relying primarily on the expertise and business networks of private fund managers. This is also essential to ensure commercial discipline in investments.

D.31. We will mobilise up to $1.5 billion of growth capital by seeding a range of funds over 10 years, for which the Government will contribute up to half the capital.

D.32. We will implement the new co-investment programme in phases. We cannot hope to find good companies simply by pouring in liquidity. We will grow the programme in tandem with the appetite of the investing community and with the number of companies they find attractive.

D.33. The first phase will be launched this year, with the Government providing up to $250 million to match private sector investments. This will allow for a few funds to be established, with a combined total of $500 million of growth capital for Singapore-based enterprises.

Productivity and Innovation Credit

C.32. First, we will introduce a ‘Productivity and Innovation Credit’. The Credit will provide significant tax deductions, for investments in a broad range of activities along the innovation value chain. Specifically, it would cover spending on:

• Research & Development;
• Registration of intellectual property – including patents, trademarks, and designs;
• Acquisition of intellectual property – for example, when a company buys a patent or copyright;
• Design activities;
• Automation through technology or software; and
• Training of employees.

On what all this implies for the funding and startup ecosystem is a thesis for another post. In the meanwhile, let’s get back to our job and focus on working smarter, not necessarily harder.

Do let us know what you think of the budget and how will it affect you in our comments section.

[StartupStars] Frenzoo, First Browser-Based Virtual World Now Includes 3D Avatar Graphics

StartupStars is a series of posts exclusively featuring startups showcased in past e27 events. This series will be covering different aspects of the startup journey undertaken by these startups to update our readers on a continuous basis. If you’d like to be part of this, check out our upcoming event – echelon2010.

Let’s face it, Avatar has completely changed our expectations with regards to the role played by technology. Virtual worlds never seemed so real before. The 3D technology is constantly evolving to provide users with as close to the real-world experience. We caught up with Frenzoo – one of the few browser-based 3D virtual worlds, to know more about the status of their startup, since the last time we featured them in unConference’09.

Frenzoo is a Hong Kong- based company that focuses on “creative” social networking with 3D effects. They have created an online world that initially started off as a fashion community, where stylists around the world could become budding fashionistas, mix and match dresses and color themes, express their style and design and share unique creations – all within the confines of a web browser. But, now they are ramping up their game by targeting ordinary folks who like to meet people or express themselves through avatars and various other social profiles. Simon Newstead, founder of Frenzoo, aptly calls it a Meebo of virtual worlds.

Frenzoo 3D chat

Frenzoo just recently launched its first global 3D online world with their own user generated content. This allows their users to create an avatar, create, sell fashion and also 3D chat in animated scenes. The 3D chat functionality is very seamless and definitely adds on to the user experience, though it currently limits one’s interactions with other players. The experience is quite innovative and the personalization’s encourage retention of first-time users.

Simon also mentions that “whether designing stunning outfits for a fashion show to hosting a dance party on Mars to even speed-dating in a tropical island hideout, we envision Frenzoo as the website to live your virtual dreams.”

What is interesting about Frenzoo is the creative user generated content in their virtual world. Users can create clothes, hair, skin, items and animations without the pre-requisite of design skills or installing an external software. Frenzoo also supports mod sims and native import from 3D Max as well as Blender, Maya, Google Sketchup, Poser, Milkshape and others via Collada API.

From focusing on a niche market service to fashion enthusiasts, they have grown to develop more mass user features by focusing on socialization, accessibility and personalization. By making things simple and easy to understand, Frenzoo is on its way to become the most web friendly virtual world.

Their revenue model is akin to most virtual worlds i.e through virtual currency purchase and VIP subscriptions from free-mium models. Their users are mainly from the United States, but they have a healthy mix from Europe and Asia. Frenzoo also supports over 10 languages including Malay and Chinese.

With regards to virtual currency, they have partnered with First Meta, another unConference’09 featured startup. Simon believes unConference’09 provided him with great networking and learning oppurtunities and we are glad that Frenzoo is definitely on a upward trajectory and picking up some serious momentum.

[img credit: parantar]

iMatch 2010: Pitch to James Hong, i/o Ventures, Trident Capital and Many More

iMatch, an initiative undertaken by the Media Development Authority of Singapore is collaborating with Expara incubator to launch this year’s annual iMatch conference. The initiative was kick-started to allow Interactive Digital Media (IDM) startups and entrepreneurs to pitch to well know angel investors and mentors. They are building on the success of the first iMatch Conference in December, 2009, which featured global venture capital and strategic investors including Benchmark, Google, DFJ, Intel Capital, JAIC and ASI. This time around they have grown their speakers base to include investors and mentors from various domains in the technology space. How far these events go about bringing actual investments to these startups, only time can tell. We are hoping that with more such events in Singapore, the startup community around the region can clearly leverage on them and grow.

If you are interested in pitching at the event, here are the details of the event:

Confirmed panel members for i.MATCH International 2010 include:
· James Hong, Co-founder, Hot or not, US*
· Paul Bragiel, Partner, i/o ventures, co-founder Lefora and Meetro, US
· Ashwin Navin, Partner, i/o ventures, co-founder BitTorrent, US
· Alberto Yépez, EIR and Venture Partner, Trident Capital, Founder, enCommerce, US
· John Mactaggart, Chairman , Australian Association of Angel Investors Ltd, Australia*
· Aydin Senkut, Founder and President, Felicis Ventures, US*
· Bob Lin, Founder, Multi-Dimensional Venture Partners, US*
· Jupe Tan, Plug and Play Tech Center, US

Space at all of the events is limited, so please register as soon as possible. You can register on-line at:
http://www.expara.com/register/tblRegistration_add.php
or via email to: register@expara.com (Companies can also submit their executive summary for the pre-selection round to this email address)

Invitation to Application Developers From Nokia

Forum Nokia has announced the opening of FutureMedia Call for Proposals. If you are a mobile application developer, here’s your chance to collaborate with largest handset manufacturer in the world and widen your distribution channel. Here are the details:

Future Media is all about collaboration between companies and combining their user base, distribution networks, development platforms and marketing/promotion resources to accelerate success in global markets.

About Nokia
Nokia is the world’s number one manufacturer of mobile devices by market share and offers Internet services that enable people to experience music, maps, media, messaging and games. We are calling for applications in music, maps, media, messaging and games. The applications may be utilising web run-time technology, must be able to run on Nokia S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 i.e. E52 and/or Nokia S60 5th Edition devices i.e. N97. Even normal application proposals are also accepted.

Offerings

1. Technical support and information for Singapore developers and a global distribution channel to consumers through the Ovi Store and other Nokia channels.
2. Forum Nokia Support Package – 1-year Forum Nokia PRO membership- Prototype device loans, discounted device purchase, complimentary tech support cases, SDK and tools for development, waiver of Ovi Store publishing fees, priority queuing for Ovi Store, marketing promotion of application on Ovi Store in mass media
3. Nokia Device Preload and Promotional opportunities, example: http://www.nokia.com.sg/find-products/products/nokia-n97/meet-the-widgets
4. Monetization opportunities for “free” widgets through Nokia Interactive Advertising
5. Regional Operator Channel Deployment opportunities
6. Technical support and information for Singapore developers and a global distribution channel to consumers through the Ovi Store and other Nokia channels.

Specific Eligibilty Requirements:

* Development must utilize web run-time technology
* Deliverables must be able to run on Nokia S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (e.g. E52) and/or Nokia S60 5th Edition devices (e.g. N97).

Please submit your applications under FutureScape Scheme (For established companies) or i.Jam Micro funding Scheme (For Startups)

Hurry! Last date for submitting the proposals is February 28, 2010 .

For more information, please visit http://www.idm.sg/cfp/future-media-call-for-proposals/

For enquiries, please contact:
Mr Chua Wee Nian , Interactive Digital Media Programme Office
Tel: (65) 9726 3029 | Email: chua_wee_nian@mda.gov.sg
Ms Woo Ying Yan , Interactive Digital Media Programme Office
Tel: (65) 9726 3027 | Email: Woo_Ying_Yan@mda.gov.sg

Equally, for any assistance you can contact the Forum Nokia Response Team at  sumedha@isourceopportunities.com /raja@isourceopportunities.com