Pandemic cannot stop this Thai billionaire heir, work-from-home culture boosts his startup
Amity had managed to avoid loss for the first time since it was founded eight years ago.
By Reuters |
Agencies
Amity has managed to break even for the first time thanks to a surge in demand for its communication platform. (In pic: Dhanin Chearavanont)
BANGKOK: Tech startup Amity, run by the grandson of Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont, has managed to break even for the first time thanks to a surge in demand for its communication platform during the coronavirus pandemic, its chief executive said.
Amity, until recently known as Eko, saw a 200% jump in revenue in the second quarter as hotels, hospitals and cleaning firms used its product, 25-year old CEO Korawad Chearavanont told Reuters.
It comes as demand for remote work technologies like video-conferencing software Zoom has boomed amid lockdowns globally to contain the outbreak.
"This is for people who are not at their desks," Korawad said of the chat service.
Amity, which has 5 million active users and benchmarks itself against Microsoft Teams and Slack, managed to avoid a loss for the first time since it was founded eight years ago.
Demand came from facilities management and hospitality firms in the United States and Europe, while hospitals in Thailand signed on to manage patient flow and coordinate cases.
ADVERTISEMENT
Amity generates 80% of its revenue in Thailand, but plans to grow its presence in western markets, Korawad said.
WhatsApp Down? Try These Seven Apps To Stay Connected Instead
1/8
WhatsApp's global outage is driving the users around the world crazy. These apps will ensure that you are always in sync with your friends.
WhatsApp's global outage is driving the users around the world crazy. These apps will ensure that you are always in sync with your friends.
To find your friend (or family) is never a hassle when you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The Find My Friends app lets you share your location with friends and vice-versa. If you don’t want to be followed, you can hide your location. It also lets you set up location-based alerts that can notify you when a friend arrives at the airport, or your friend arrives home safely after a late night out.
Available in iOS
(Image: www.itunes.apple.com)
To find your friend (or family) is never a hassle when you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The Find My Friends app lets you share your location with friends and vice-versa. If you don’t want to ..
Read More
Skout works on proximity and preferences, like a dating app, but for friends. Check it out if you are open to making new friends in a new place. You can get updates from nearby users, buy and send gifts for them, share photos or simply see who’s checking you out. The app also matches you with people you want to chat with, whether they are nearby or in a city you want to visit.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.skout.com)
Skout works on proximity and preferences, like a dating app, but for friends. Check it out if you are open to making new friends in a new place. You can get updates from nearby users, buy and send gi..
Read More
If you are looking for a crossplatform, thirdparty location sharing service, then Glympse is your best option. It lets you share realtime location using GPS tracking with your friends, and comes with a ton of features. You can send a notifi cation called a ‘glympse’ via email, SMS, Facebook or Twitter to your friend(s). The app can also be integrated into Garmin’s Navigation software.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.glympse.com)
If you are looking for a crossplatform, thirdparty location sharing service, then Glympse is your best option. It lets you share realtime location using GPS tracking with your friends, and comes with..
Read More
We all love eating out with friends and exploring new restaurants. Splitwise takes the trouble out of sharing the expenses — with friends, with roommates, or anyone. It’s an impressive IOU manager, helping you and your friends keep all your debts straight and easily payable. You can add individual friends from your address book or set up a group.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.splitwise.com)
We all love eating out with friends and exploring new restaurants. Splitwise takes the trouble out of sharing the expenses — with friends, with roommates, or anyone. It’s an impressive IOU manager, h..
Read More
One of the popular instant messaging apps, Hike has come up with some major updates that makes it interesting. It has Live Filters and Live Masks, a Camera and Stories feature to jazz up your conversation. Hike also boasts of a collection of 10,000 localised free stickers in more than 40 languages that users can relate to.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.hike.in)
One of the popular instant messaging apps, Hike has come up with some major updates that makes it interesting. It has Live Filters and Live Masks, a Camera and Stories feature to jazz up your convers..
Read More
If you are missing your friends who are half way around the globe, you can now throw a virtual party anytime with Houseparty. It is a video chatting app designed for spontaneous conversations. Sure you have many other options for video chatting over your mobile device, but this app is designed to catch your loved ones at their comfortable best. You can instantly invite all your friends, who have the app, to join you.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.joinhouse.party)
If you are missing your friends who are half way around the globe, you can now throw a virtual party anytime with Houseparty. It is a video chatting app designed for spontaneous conversations. Sure y..
Read More
If you are pampering your best friend — your pooch — at home, this location-based social app can help you connect with fellow dog owners. On your profi le, you tell fellow users about yourself and your dog, posting pictures of you both. When you are at a certain dog park, you can check in so all your app friends and you can have a doggy play date, of sorts.
Available in Android, iOS
(Image: www.meetmydogapp.com)
If you are pampering your best friend — your pooch — at home, this location-based social app can help you connect with fellow dog owners. On your profi le, you tell fellow users about yourself and yo..
Korawad's grandfather is senior chairman of the country's largest agro-industrial conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group).
The startup does not have financial support from the group, but has had some of its firms - including CP Foods and convenience store operator CPALL - as its customers since 2018.
ADVERTISEMENT
The family privately also has a minority stake in Amity.
The firm counts Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group, AirAsia and Japanese trading house Itochu Corp as investors and has raised $30 million since it was founded.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even though its outlook has improved, Korawad worried this was not enough.
The firm earlier announced it had acquired local chatbot startup, ConvoLab, to enhance its service and boost growth and announced it had changed its name to Amity to reflect this.
"Zoom activity is up, but we're not seeing anything near that so this prompted the acquisition ... to supercharge our platform," he said.
The firm had a "decent" shot at a $1 billion valuation next year and is eyeing an initial public offering in 2023, he added.
Office Interiors To Change Post-Lockdown: Here's What The Future Will Look Like
1/11
“For office culture to revive and survive, office spaces are looking at a pretty drastic alteration of layouts and design,” says Pankaj Poddar, the co-founder of Hipcouch, a Mumbai based Interior Design Company. He says the new normal will also see some reversal.
“We will see the reversing of very hot trends of open offices and shared desks.” While we wait for the official decrees, here’s what the rough framework is looking like so far according to Poddar.
“For office culture to revive and survive, office spaces are looking at a pretty drastic alteration of layouts and design,” says Pankaj Poddar, the co-founder of Hipcouch, a Mumbai based Interior Des..
Read More
For now, private offices have been advised to open with only between 33-55% strength in most states in India. Besides what we hope will also mean a reduced commute to work thanks to less traffic, this also allows for social distancing at the office.
For now, private offices have been advised to open with only between 33-55% strength in most states in India. Besides what we hope will also mean a reduced commute to work thanks to less traffic, thi..
Read More
Since offices will not be at maximum capacity, there is scope to ensure enough physical distance between two desks by simply skipping one in the middle. At the very least, or in addition, fitting a screen around each desk is also a good way to achieve this. Hot desking is now a no-go.
Since offices will not be at maximum capacity, there is scope to ensure enough physical distance between two desks by simply skipping one in the middle. At the very least, or in addition, fitting a s..
Read More
The way 2020 is going, it’s hard to predict anything this year with any accuracy, so we have no idea what monsoon will bring, but opening as many windows as you possibly can will increase ventilation and we suspect that a lot of offices will consider the option. Too hot? Your office may need to get a humidifier system in place to create a tougher climate for viruses.
The way 2020 is going, it’s hard to predict anything this year with any accuracy, so we have no idea what monsoon will bring, but opening as many windows as you possibly can will increase ventilation..
Read More
Meetings should be conducted in open spaces as far as possible instead of the traditional closed conference room setting. And maybe the joke about how “this meeting could have been an email” can stop being funny and actually be something to think about.
Meetings should be conducted in open spaces as far as possible instead of the traditional closed conference room setting. And maybe the joke about how “this meeting could have been an email” can stop..
Read More
Equip the entrance/lobby, dining areas, bathrooms and other public spaces within the office with sanitiser dispensers, disposable gloves and a no-touch thermometer. Add a screen to protect the reception staff and insist on extra cleaning of all spaces, especially bathrooms.
Equip the entrance/lobby, dining areas, bathrooms and other public spaces within the office with sanitiser dispensers, disposable gloves and a no-touch thermometer. Add a screen to protect the recept..
Read More
This one is a more elaborate solution than the others, but according to reports, offices in the UK are looking at replacing communal toilets with individual pods and introducing touchless doors, taps and soap dispensers.
This one is a more elaborate solution than the others, but according to reports, offices in the UK are looking at replacing communal toilets with individual pods and introducing touchless doors, taps..
Read More
A strict limit on how many people can crowd into a lift at one time may save you some of that awkward elevator silence, but it also means a longer wait every time you want to move from one floor to another. A good time to reassess your relationship with the staircase (your step counter will be a thing of pride at the end of each day!)
A strict limit on how many people can crowd into a lift at one time may save you some of that awkward elevator silence, but it also means a longer wait every time you want to move from one floor to a..
Read More
Yes, this may come to an end as well. Be prepared to carry your own water bottles, coffee mugs and cutlery to the office. A common pool of all these items is just a bad idea.
Yes, this may come to an end as well. Be prepared to carry your own water bottles, coffee mugs and cutlery to the office. A common pool of all these items is just a bad idea.
Whether this is good news to you or exactly the opposite, travelling for business will see a drastic drop, replaced instead by Zoom calls. Travelling anywhere is probably unwise for at least the next several months anyway, even as domestic flights are slowly opening up. Also, obviously don’t count on any outstation off-sites anytime soon.
Whether this is good news to you or exactly the opposite, travelling for business will see a drastic drop, replaced instead by Zoom calls. Travelling anywhere is probably unwise for at least the next..
