Picking Tech Winners

When it comes to grooming tech startups, Singapore-based venture capitalist and incubation firm, TNB Ventures (TNB) provides beyond the usual financial investment and mentoring support. TNB has established innovation programmes that match promising startups with larger corporates and MNCs. "Startups are chosen for these programmes primarily based on their ability to add value by addressing core challenges faced by the corporates they work with. The corporates, meanwhile, are keen to plug into the innovation space for strategic reasons", says Mr Vicknesh Pillay, Managing Partner at TNB Ventures.

Founded in 2014, TNB focuses on investing in startups from Southeast Asia that are involved in frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and Internet of Things.

On the evolution of the Singapore startup landscape, Mr Pillay believes that the days of the B2C focused tech solutions - such as the proliferation of food and transportation apps - is over. In its place are more B2B startups that are leveraging advanced technologies. This trend arises as industry challenges are increasingly being addressed by emerging and disruptive technologies, with a great potential to scale.

"The B2C market here is too small, and it is harder to scale because there is a lot of localisation needed when you enter other markets. A lot of capital is also required to gain market share. As such, the growth is now in B2B markets and Singapore is well- positioned in this space due to the proximity to surrounding markets and the sound legal and tax systems," he reveals.

TNB chose to base itself in Singapore due to the attractiveness of the location to investors. He noted that the tech scene here is also more advanced than those in other markets in the region.

Although the macro environment seems to be favourable to B2B startups in this region, TNB is in no doubt that startups would still need to navigate the challenges of selling their solutions to organisations which present different challenges in terms of decision making compared to the simple straight-forward buying of B2C customers. Today's organisations are more professionally managed, and it would need a professional team to sell B2B solutions to these organisations, especially to the larger multinationals.

Nevertheless, TNB is confident that Southeast Asia presents huge B2B potential for its startups.

(Adapted and abridged for academic purposes from Picking Tech Winners, Spring News, October 2017)

(a) Identifyfour (4)relevant environmental factors. Discuss how these environmental factors can influence business buying decisions of the technology solutions provided by these startups that TNB nurtures. (8 marks)

(b) Identifythree (3)relevant organisational factors and explain how these factors can influence business buying decisions of the technology solutions provided by these startups. (12 marks)

(c) Discuss the role of each member of the DMU or buying centre of the business customer for the technology solutions that these startups are likely to encounter. (6 marks)

(d) Explain the concept of key account in the context of B2B sales.(4 marks)