pricing
looking to de-mystify legal costs for Southeast Asian founders with upfront pricing & fixed fees
working with the hottest tech startups in southeast asia
we know you're looking for cost certainty
We have put together this fixed price list for jobs that we see on a regular basis.
If you don't see your job on the list, don't worry - we're always happy to provide a fee estimate for any other work before we start.
reviewing your templates
S$500
If you've tried our free legal templates from our website and want to check with us that you've filled it in correctly, we'll review your document for a flat fee of S$500.
This fee applies if:
- you've filled the form out yourself and can send it through to us as a Word document
- the template is appropriate for your transaction (as described in the user notes) and therefore does not require major changes
- you are using any of our Southeast Asian templates, except our ESOP template and document generator (see below)
drafting your employee share option scheme
S$2,000
If you’d rather not go through the process of working through the ESOP template and guide, we can produce your ESOP for you.
You can request this fee if:
- the ESOP is for a Singaporean company and for recipients in Singapore
This fee includes:
- drafting of your ESOP rules, letter of grant, and option certificate
- up to two rounds of revisions
This fee excludes:
- drafting the associated board and shareholder resolutions, consents, and waivers (that's a job for your company secretary).
- GST (if any)
drafting your founder vesting agreements
S$1,250 for 1-2 founders
S$1,500 for 3-4 founders
Having this agreement in place avoids difficult discussions around the equity structure if one or more of the founders leaves the company. On his or her departure, his or her unvested shares can be repurchased by the company.
This fee includes:
- drafting a founder vesting agreement for each founder
- one further revision following feedback from founders
This fee excludes:
- putting together your cap table
- GST (if any)
seed round legal documents
S$7,500
We can help founders review, negotiate and agree their series seed term sheet and long form investment documents (subscription agreement, shareholders’ agreement, and constitution).
You can request this fee if:
- the round is led by an institutional seed investor
- the lead investor is drafting the long form investment documents
- the amount raised is typical for a seed round (~S$750k - S$2m)
This fee excludes:
- putting together your cap table
- drafting the associated board and shareholder resolutions, consents, and waivers (for review and circulation by your company secretary)
reviewing your series A term sheet
S$1,500
Ready to do your series A round? We can help founders review and mark up their series A term sheet. Get recommendations on what you can negotiate and push back on, and understand what different parts of the term sheet mean for your business.
You can request this fee if:
- the round is led by an institutional series A investor
- the lead investor has drafted the term sheet
This fee includes:
- marking up the term sheet with recommendations and adding explanatory comments
- one further revision following feedback from founders
This fee excludes:
- putting together your cap table
- negotiating directly with the lead investor
read our success stories
Malaysian point of sale (POS) startup StoreHub is on a mission to help businesses execute better, through innovative technology and great design.
Wai Hong Fong, StoreHub CEO and co-founder, recently talked to us about his company and how he has found working with Kindrik Partners on their Series A capital raise.
the storehub story
Wai Hong refers to himself as an accidental entrepreneur. Most of his family are professionals and he says that it was a combination of kind of stumbling into opportunities plus being frustrated with a problem and wanting to solve it, which led him to where he is today.
After completing his BA in arts, media and philosophy at the University of Melbourne, he co-founded and became Managing Director at OZHut a lifestyle online retailer, where he did everything from writing code, web development and design, search engine optimization and even running the packing tables at the warehouse.
After 5 years at OzHut, he moved to China to study Mandarin and met a friend running a small retail store who asked him to look at his POS given Wai Hong’s e-Commerce background. He realised how terrible it was and not only wanted to help his friend fix this but other small to medium businesses that required offline and online sales support.
Wai Hong knew that the iPad POS was taking off in the US but there were no alternatives in Asia. With the belief that it was time for technology to revolutionise the traditional POS industry in Asia, and to help build better businesses, he co-founded StoreHub in 2013, along with current Chief Technology Officer, Congyu Li.
In the first 12 months of development, they bootstrapped the company then received a small investment from an angel investor, as well as a grant from Malaysia’s Cradle Fund. Wai Hong says that this initial funding allowed them to grow their product quickly and we’ve been cashflow positive and profitable since late 2015.
StoreHub is now a cloud-based iPad POS with inventory management, reporting and CRM, accessed via a mobile responsive backend, with over 850 retail stores paying a monthly subscription and customers in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
In addition to the POS product offering, StoreHub supports its product with exceptional customer service based on the business to consumer experience which is not commonly offered by the industry.
In 2016, StoreHub announced a partnership with Malaysia-listed payments giant GHL Systems to deliver a fully integrated mobile point of sale (mPOS) credit card terminal and iPad POS solution. They also secured USD$850k in their Series A capital raising round from 500 Startups, as well as investors in China, Singapore and Malaysia.
Wai Hong says that StoreHub now plans to grow at least another 5 times its current size in the next year, add complementary products to their core offering and also enter new South East Asian markets, such as Thailand and Philippines.
challenges
Wai Hong notes that the biggest challenge for StoreHub is hiring and managing people, especially on a shoestring budget, talent acquisition and management is key.
The POS market is also highly competitive however StoreHub manages to differentiate because of their broad offering and leveraging their customer service focus which is generally seen as an afterthought in the industry. Being product and tech obsessed has also helped them stay ahead of the pack.
working with Kindrik Partners
Wai Hong primarily dealt with lawyers for the angel investment which involved local lawyers but it unfortunately turned out to be a painful and expensive experience.
He was then introduced to Kindrik Partners partner Lee Bagshaw through former Kindrik Partners lawyer, now investment analyst at tech VC Monks Hill, Lucy Luo. Lee supported StoreHub through the Series A capital raising, including drafting all of the documents which is unique for a deal like this, as investors usually provide the first round of documents.
Wai Hong says that it was our first serious cap raise and it was a refreshing experience given the angel investment round, knowing if I had an issue I would be getting sound advice. It made a huge difference that Lee thoroughly understood the South East Asian venture capital landscape, particularly as they had to negotiate with the investors.
Given Lee really understood StoreHub’s business, Wai Hong would work with him again on further corporate governance work like an Employee Share Options Scheme. He has also recommended both Kindrik Partners and Lee to a whole bunch of startups.
He says not only was Lee fast at delivering the work which helped StoreHub maintain their professionalism with investors, but he gets the space, market standards and provides valuable industry insights. Wai Hong thought Lee’s wealth of experience showed specifically when he advised on the all important term sheet, his advice and guidance was spot on.
Wai Hong also thinks that the Kindrik Partners Templates are also pretty cool, providing good information and learning points, and are a good starting point for legal work.
summing up
StoreHub’s growth is a testament to the company’s commitment to building a product and providing outstanding customer service. Kindrik Partners can’t wait to see what Wai Hong and the team have planned for their ambitious next steps.
Explore StoreHub.
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
Fintech startups are the next big thing in the Southeast Asian tech scene. Kindrik Partners client C88 (formerly Compare88) is racing ahead of the pack after securing the backing of high-profile VC investors including Telstra Ventures.
C88 provides online financial services price comparison tools, helping consumers to compare the offers of major brands for products such as credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, vehicle loans, savings accounts and insurance. The company also offers a brokerage service, enabling consumers to purchase products directly on the C88 platform – for which C88 has secured relevant financial services licences through Southeast Asia.
Founder and CEO, J.P. Ellis, talked to us about the company’s background, its most recent series B financing round, and how they have found working with Kindrik Partners.
the c88 story
Prior to C88, founders Karl Knoflach and J.P. worked in private equity, finance, operations and leadership. The C88 senior team also consists of Gary Empl, a professional software developer with over two decades of experience leading teams in the creation of cutting-edge software in the financial services industry. Karl and Gary were part of the original founding team of einsurance.de in Munich in 1999 – a revolutionary company in the German insurance space which later became Check24.de, the German market-leader.
C88’s commercial teams in Indonesia, the Philippines and other markets are made up of senior bankers, insurance executives and sales operators with many years of experience in financial products sales and distribution. This experience, and the networks that senior team members bring, is crucial to C88 maintaining its market leader position.
J.P. notes that the Southeast Asian economy’s migration to digital begin with communities moving online for social needs. This was followed by online purchasing of physical goods, usually electronics and clothes, then travel bookings, followed more recently by financial services. This migration began in earnest in 2009, and by 2011 there were already major e-commerce providers. Online channel emerged in the insurance vertical in 2013, and C88 followed quickly releasing its platform in 2014.
J.P. observes that high traffic digital marketplaces, such as C88’s CekAja.com brand in Indonesia and eCompareMo.com brand in the Philippines, benefit consumers as well as underwriters. C88 can use its volume to create pricing efficiency for their customers. That volume also reduces the overall cost of acquisition for underwriters. Prior to the emergence of financial services e-commerce, banks and insurers basically only had two options for sales in the large markets of Southeast Asia: branches or physical agents. Digital sales through C88’s platform provides a highly cost-effective alternative.
challenges
Southeast Asia remains highly fragmented. Operating a multi-jurisdictional structure that is attractive to both consumers and providers, while keeping national regulators on-side, is challenging.
The company also faces the challenge of creating a common culture across national teams. Incentivising teams in different verticals and across countries to work together to solve problems creatively is an ever-evolving process of creative leadership and problem solving.
J.P adds that fortunately, C88’s team are multi-lingual and truly love what they do. It is not at all uncommon for them to log long hours during the week and weekends, because they genuinely enjoy what they do in building systems and solving problems for consumers in the region.
working with Kindrik Partners
As well as advising C88 on its venture capital financing rounds, Kindrik Partners’s Lee Bagshaw and Chris Wilson have helped C88 implement a variety of business critical structures including inter-company, cross-border licensing agreements and intellectual property documentation.
J.P says that Kindrik Partners provided high-quality and competitively-priced legal services in the critical areas of C88’s business. J.P. particularly appreciated the level of support he received when negotiating and completing the company’s recent Series B round led by Telstra Ventures – he says that the Kindrik Partners team know venture capital deals inside out, and made the negotiation of the financing documentation a breeze.
Kindrik Partners looks forward to helping C88 to continue its journey to become a leading fintech player in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Explore C88.
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
about X0PA.AI
Singapore-based X0PA.AI is a SaaS talent hiring and recruitment platform that uses AI and data science to match applicants to roles, as well as predict issues such as attrition, loyalty and performance.
CEO Nina Suri has scaled the team over three years to twenty-five employees, located across Singapore, India, and the UK, with plans to start in the UAE.
X0PA recently implemented an employee share option plan (ESOP) and Nina shared her experience.
why implement an ESOP
“Having had over twenty years of entrepreneurship, I knew I wanted to build a culture of ownership and inclusivity, and ensure that our team felt involved and satisfied”, says Nina.
“An ESOP is one way that our employees can feel like they’re a part of growing something – that our success is their success”, says Nina.
putting the ESOP in place
The company originally drafted some ESOP paperwork when they first incorporated, but as they grew, X0PA’s company secretary recommended that it be replaced with something more robust and market standard.
“We learned that the ESOP needed major amendments in order to be more in line with what is typically seen in the market in Singapore, and reflect what investors are likely to expect”, said Nina.
Nina reached out Kindrik Partners after the firm was recommended to them by their company secretary. XOPA worked with Sarah Yen in Kindrik Partners’s Singapore office, who was able to create the right framework for the startup.
“We were looking for a firm who advised a lot of startups in Southeast Asia. Sarah took the time to explain and really make sure that we understood the mechanics of how the ESOP operated. This made it easier for us to communicate that to our employees.”
“It’s important when putting together an ESOP to consider several different factors”, says Sarah. “What works for the company, what is standard in the market to attract quality talent, and what your investors and most importantly a future potential buyer might expect to see.”
about the ESOP
A X0PA employee is invited to participate in the ESOP once they have been with the team for twelve months, and if they’re considered a ‘high performer’.
“At the moment we have a rockstar team, and 100% of the people who we have hired have been invited to join”, says Nina.
“In my previous venture I also felt strongly about letting my employees be directly involved – but I gave them straight equity. It was a more traditional business with a partnership model.”
“This time, an ESOP seemed more appropriate – it was a more scalable model and more appropriate for the type of company we wanted to build.”
X0PA’s management team put aside 10% of the company’s equity towards the ESOP, with the expectation that this allocation would last at least five years. They set the exercise price by the valuation of the company at the time of allocation.
Allocations were not standardised per employee but were allocated according to the contribution and importance’ of the employee’s role in the organisation, according to Nina.
The X0PA team also included an acceleration clause in the ESOP – if the company exits before the vesting period, their employee’s options fully vest.
advice for other founders
“We weren’t familiar with the nitty gritty of putting in place an ESOP – it was a new experience for us”, says Nina.
“My advice would be to go with a lawyer who is experienced with startups and ESOPs, so you don’t have to go through the complications that we went through as we started to scale”, she says.
Nina also stressed that it was important to familiarise yourself with the mechanics of your startup’s ESOP so that management could communicate with staff effectively about how it worked.
Nina also had some tips about how to communicate with a team when implementing an ESOP.
“We kept it very simple for our staff. We broke down into the main points – what is the ESOP, what does it mean for them, what do they get, how much do they get. We didn’t want to get them worked up about the legal language.”
Nina also made sure that she sent each team member an individual email after the scheme was introduced to the company, confirming what the ESOP meant, how that individual’s options vested, and what would happen to their options in different scenarios.
“You need to make sure your team understands what the ESOP is. If you’re giving them something, and they don’t appreciate it, and then what’s the point? It’s best to spell it out and make sure that everyone understands – then you’re all working towards a common purpose.”
what’s next for X0PA?
“We’re starting to move from startup to scale up now. We’re experiencing massive acceleration and growth, with several Government departments, enterprises, polytechnics and universities as clients”, says Nina.
“Our product is ready, and strong, and we’re ready to grow and help our clients with their digital transformation. We are focused on growth both from increasing market share in the markets we operate in as well as market expansion point of view.”
[Note: The firm’s name was changed to Kindrik Partners in July 2020 and references to the firm’s previous name have been updated.]
Explore our other case studies here, or access our full library of ESOP guides and templates via our resources section.
