e27: Exploring the Builder of Asia's Startup Ecosystem

E27 is a media technology platform that focuses on the startup ecosystem in Asia. It has become a leading source of news, insights, and connections for entrepreneurs and investors in the region. The platform provides a range of services, including a news portal, a startup database, a job board, a community forum, and a recently launched business matching feature. e27 also organizes events such as conferences, workshops, and pitch competitions. These provide opportunities for startups to showcase their products and services, connect with investors and other entrepreneurs, and gain valuable insights and knowledge from industry experts. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about E27 with its CEO and Co-Founder, Mohan Belani. 

What inspired you to explore the startup technology ecosystem in Asia? 

It started because I was thinking about the world’s problems and opportunities. If you really looked at it, these could be found in the Southeast Asian region. All of the world's startup ecosystems were already advanced, such as that of Europe, China, and India. As a person from Southeast Asia, the tech system here was the one system that we should be looking at. When we started building the company, there were still a lot of problems in the ecosystem. I realized that all these problems could be solved with fast, quick, and flexible teams. Not by large corporations or by governments. As a result, I dedicated my time and energy to help startups build and grow their business, and in this process, learn how to solve the biggest problems Southeast Asia has.

What inspired you to start e27 and what was the vision behind it?

The full name for ‘e27’ is actually Entrepreneur 27. ‘E’ stands for Entrepreneur, and ‘27’ because it was inspired by a whitepaper written by Paul Graham. This specifically said that founders aged 27 and below were the best to invest in since they are good at disrupting existing traditional industries. They are able to approach problems with a fresh lens. They didn’t have experience in corporations before and preconceived notions of how things would traditionally function.

We wanted to reduce the failure rate of companies in the region. We wanted to provide founders who might not have the right access to investments or information. E27’s mission is to build and grow the companies of founders.

What is e27 and what makes it different from other tech media platforms?

We are primarily a tech ecosystem platform. We got the media element, the startup and investor database, events, and corporate innovation programs that we run in partnership with corporations. We’re not just one piece of the puzzle. We try to ensure that all different pieces work together. We actively engage with the ecosystem. It’s a very community-centric program where you have founders creating content on the side, making sure that startups are listed on the site, and connecting those profiles with investors. It goes beyond making articles about the industry and goes into business matching and partnering.

What are the most impactful achievements e27 has achieved? 

I think one would be the success of our Echelon event. We were able to grow it nicely till 2019, before the pandemic hit. We had about 10,000 people attending the event. It was the de facto tech ecosystem event in Southeast Asia. That was a huge achievement for us since we were able to bring together significant stakeholders. We were doing around 11 different roadshow events across APEC, including Central Asia. Across that, we found the best 100 companies and a lot of our alumni companies were able to raise multiple major rounds of funding. The second success we had was launching our business matching feature called ‘Connect’ during the pandemic. We have done 20,000 connects across the platform. The third success would be the number of corporate customers that work with us to do business matching. We are very lucky to be working with some of the top-tier clients such as Meta, SAP, Sales Force and the like.

How do you see your platform evolving in the next few years?

The platform has been an information-layer for a lot of partners in the ecosystem. It's also been a great way for founders to get visibility and become top partners of the platform. I think the next layer we would want to penetrate is to deepen the connection between the stakeholders. We want to build features that allow startups to better update investors. We are also thinking about how governments and corporations could play a better role in the platform. The last layer is for our contributor-community. We have a lot of creators creating content on a monthly basis. Given the tools to better see what kind of content works better on e27 is something we are working on next.  

What role do you see e27 playing in shaping the future of media and technology?

Our role is to always champion the ecosystem. We want to ensure that we are behind the founders, investors, and partners. We also want to ensure that the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem grows in a sustainable manner. Our role is to ensure that information we provide on the platform, the causes and the kinds of startups we champion, and the founders that we work with are those that will make the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem a better ecosystem. We are currently working with Prudence foundation to scour the region for startups that are looking into disaster technology. Looking at how technology could be applied to areas where startups aren’t looking in, and working with partners such as Prudence foundation, is something that we are advocating for. We always need to be asking ourselves what more we can do for the community and beyond.

Mohan Belani is the CEO and Co-Founder of e27. He has extensive experience in the fields of management, startups, and technology and has a degree in Management and Science Engineering and Electronics and Computer Engineering. These experiences have led Mohan to establish e27, with a  mission to help founders build and grow their businesses through their platform, which has become a leading source of news, insights, and connections for entrepreneurs and investors in the region. As the CEO and Co-Founder of e27, Mohan is committed to growing businesses in Southeast Asia to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.  

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with e27.