contract and commercial resources
Explore our collection of resources for commercial work in Southeast Asia.
templates
explore our case studies
Auckland based startup 90 Seconds is the world’s leading cloud video production platform, allowing brands to purchase, plan, shoot, edit and review video anywhere in the world, online and on mobile.
Tim Norton, Founder and CEO, and Richard Chew, CFO, recently talked to us about 90 Second’s Series A capital raise and how they have found working with Kindrik Partners.
the 90 seconds story
Tim has been building tech companies for the last 14 years from SaaS to video platforms. It was after founding a media company that profiled the startup community through print and video, that Tim realised how hard it was to create videos. He says that the process was varied, it was difficult to shoot between countries and despite the fact that online video content was growing in popularity, professional videos were not easy to make.
This led to Tim’s idea to connect people around the world in order to create professional videos. 90 Seconds was launched in 2010, with Tim and one other developer creating online video production tools, off the back of seed and angel investment.
The concept and tools grew, and Tim managed to solve his previous issues through the creation of a cloud-based platform, which lets users handle almost every part of the video production process in one place. Brands can purchase, plan, shoot, edit and review video from the platform anywhere in the world, online and on mobile.
It was always part of Tim’s vision to build a truly global company, so two years in Tim began to establish a presence in Japan, Singapore, Australia, on top of NZ and the UK. The company became profitable in 2014 and Richard also joined as CFO. In 2015, Tim decided to hire a Head of Talent and they grew from 20 to 78 people in under a year. They then secured NZD$11m through their Series A capital raise led by Sequoia in 2016.
90 Seconds have now worked with more than 1000 brands including Google, Barclays, PayPal, Visa and Sony to produce over 10,000 high quality, fast, easy and affordable videos, in 70 countries.
The company has a global team working across Singapore, London, Tokyo, Manila, Sydney and Auckland, and they hope to open new offices in San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong and Berlin going forward.
Tim thinks that 90 Seconds has just scratched the surface of the global opportunity for cloud-based video production. They will continue to focus on their global growth and make video production even faster, as fast as Uber, publishing professional videos within anywhere between 24 hours to two to 3 weeks, no matter in the world the video creators are. They also plan to continue to develop the mobile version of their software so clients can manage every part of the production process on their tablets or smartphones.
challenges
Tim and Richard both agree that talent acquisition and management is the key to ensuring the success of 90 Seconds, as well as scaling growth at the right time. Tim says that we always need to hire as the business continues to grow, finding the right people to do the job within budget, is definitely an art.
There is definitely competition in the industry which comes in two types. The first being companies who have been around for the same time or longer than 90 whose established business practice. The second is startups, who have the speed and agility to move quickly and innovate. However, Tim says 90 Seconds has a unique position given their stage of growth. They not only understand the industry and are experienced enough to compete with established business but they are also nimble enough to compete with new ones, having the capacity to completely revamp their current product.
working with kindrik partners
Tim and Richard have both worked with lawyers throughout their careers and had varied experiences, prior to their first capital raise, 90 Seconds brought lawyers in get the job done and keep legal costs at a minimum.
They were recommended Kindrik Partners by Sequoia, the key investor leading the capital raising process, who have invested in a number of the world’s leading tech companies including Apple, Google, YouTube and Airbnb. Lee Bagshaw’s was the lead partner for the deal given his background in fund raising for global startups and extensive experience negotiating deals with Sequoia.
The 90 Seconds team worked closely with Lee and Chris Wilson on the intricate transaction which involved a re-domicile, re-structure and Series A all rolled into one, as well as a broad range of investors, from publicly listed companies, venture capital firms and private investors such as SKY TV New Zealand, Airtree Ventures, Beenext and Oleg Tscheltzoff founder of Fotolia.
Tim describes the process as being much longer than he expected, taking 6 months. He says it was like a giant Jenga of risk, investors and issues to manage and at times he was keen to concede on points to move the deal on. However, he says Lee kept them focused on the key issues and eventually they nailed it, and got a deal far better than I expected with Tim feeling more powerful as a founder and entrepreneur through Lee’s advice. Richard also notes that Lee’s knowledge and experience with Sequoia was completely invaluable.
Tim and Richard both agree that this process showed how important it is to partner with lawyers who have hands on experience in dealing with the legal and commercial complexity of capital raising for a global company. Tim notes that when you work with a range of investors on a global deal, you need a legal partner to get the deal done and Kindrik Partners provided the best advice which got them a big outcome.
summing up
90 Seconds are an inspiring example of a company with humble NZ beginnings, demonstrating a fast-growing and rapidly scaling business model, as well as attracting major technology investment players.
Sequoia’s backing shows that big US VCs now view New Zealand startups as global opportunities. Kindrik Partners will be closely watching 90 Seconds continue its rapid growth to become a significant global player.
Explore 90 Seconds.
[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 Singapore Tourism Accelerator
The Singapore Tourism Accelerator is an equity-free 6-month programme for promising technology companies that power the travel and tourism industry. The Accelerator is organised by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and is managed by its appointed Corporate Innovation partner, Found8.
The cohort companies undergo a three-month accelerator program where they participate in capacity- building workshops providing insights to the Singapore ecosystem and market as well as the tourism and hospitality industry. The program is tailored to support the startups in identifying and securing a pilot partner and project to testbed their solution with. This is followed by three months of pilot implementation and execution with one of the close to 30 industry partners participating in the programme – including Singapore Airlines, Changi Airport, Marina Bay Sands, and other prominent tourism brands.
The Accelerator provides founders with an opportunity to learn critical market entry skills, pilot design and implementation skills, and fundraising strategies. The programme also offers 1:1 mentoring, expert feedback, and access to industry events. The accelerator culminates in a Demo Day attended by investors and members of the tourism industry.
The Accelerator is currently running its second cohort of 10 companies and Kindrik Partners has worked with the program as an advisor for both. Particularly in the case of startups who have come from outside the region, that can include incorporation in Singapore with a view to getting investment.
pivoting to remote-first with COVID-19
With the second cohort set to begin just as the COVID-19 situation was escalating in Singapore, the decision was made to pivot from an onsite programme to a digital-first programme.
“The global health crisis put a lot of different challenges on top of everyone’s normal workload. Now that we’re split across seven different time-zones, it’s a big ask in terms of flexibility and adaptability for the people who run the workshops. We are all now masters of Zoom,” says Katrin Miller, program manager.
kindrik partners support
presentations and office hours
In line with the move to remote-first, Sarah Yen, senior solicitor at Kindrik Partners, presented to the second cohort via webinar, covering basic corporate and commercial topics such as seed rounds and other common legal issues for growth stage companies.
The startups were also able to book one-on-one Zoom legal consultations to address any queries not covered in the presentations.
“It was beneficial to the startups to know they had access to a lawyer to address more specific questions once they were further through the process”, says Katrin.
“Throughout the programme, Sarah has been stellar to deal with. She has always made herself available to our startups and the advice she gives to help the founders is always well structured and clear.”
online templates
Founder in each cohort also have access to over 30 free legal templates and guides for startups that have been tailored to building tech companies in Southeast Asia.
“Anytime one of the startups needed a template, I always consulted the Kindrik Partners database first to see if there was something they could start working from,” says Katrin.
The templates cover common corporate and commercial agreements and resolutions used by growth startups. These include founder agreements, NDAs, and sample term sheets.
support tailored for the programme
Given the industry connections that the Accelerator offers to industry heavyweights like Singapore Airlines, Changi Airport, and Marina Bay Sands, Kindrik Partners also provides targeted assistance on pilot agreements.
“Running a pilot programme is a great way to fine-tune a solution and to approach enterprise customers”, says Sarah. “However, since there’s no real uniformity to pilot agreements, founders need to be aware of some key provisions that will shape their experience with the organisation they’re dealing with.”
Katrin agrees, adding “Some corporate partners have existing documentation around pilot programmes – but for many, it’s up to the startup to set up a legal document that seals the partnership. Kindrik Partners provided real value in educating the startups and help them understand the legalese – whether it be a letter of intent, an MOU, or formal partnership agreement.”
after demo day
fixed fees on seed funding rounds
Following demo day, Kindrik Partners is available to the cohort companies to assist them with their first institutional funding rounds. To bring more transparency to the market around legal costs, Kindrik Partners offers fixed fees for institutional seed funding rounds and some associated projects, such as ESOPs.
“We want to help founders understand the terms on which they are raising their first formal funding, to help them close the deal as efficiently as possible, and of course to ensure they are getting market terms. Providing fixed fees removes one of the biggest obstacles to start-ups engaging counsel during the funding process, i.e. concerns around creeping costs and their lawyers running the clock on each call or email query”, partner Chris Wilson says.
final words
The mentorship and guidance given to the startups has been highly valued by founders in the accelerator programme.
“It’s been a hard time to run a tourism accelerator during the coronavirus pandemic – it’s no surprise that we are the hardest hit. But we’ve noticed that many of our industry partners have stepped up and focused on innovation to give them a competitive edge when the industry recovers.”
“Having Kindrik Partners on hand to assist has been truly valuable throughout the course of the programme as our founders navigate the new normal.”
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.]
