Rapid digitalisation throughout the globe, spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic, is sparking a race among the most forward-looking businesses to innovate and disrupt the way humans live and create new possibilities for the greater good. At Franklin Templeton, its experts are committed to pursuing investment excellence for their clients by identifying and investing in companies that have the potential to make a difference in the world we live in.
The global investment firm celebrates 30 years in Singapore this year. It has grown its presence here from a research office in 1990 into the Asia headquarters of one of the largest asset management firms in the world.
An innovative approach to asset management continues to guide the firm’s investment philosophy. It has funds that invest in companies driving innovation and digital transformation in industries such as biotechnology, digital disruption and technology which the three entrepreneurs from our Gen.T community featured here individually represent. Disruptors Jeffrey Lu, Christel Quek and John Cheng, who are at the forefront of their respective fields, share their insights on the rising industry trends they believe in and how they are working to address some of today’s most pressing issues.
In this second part of a three-part series, we speak to Quek about how her mobile entertainment company Bolt Global is on a mission to elevate the way we consume content.
In this era of accelerated digitalisation, many aspects of daily life, from work to and education to entertainment, have transitioned online.
The terms of engagement, however, are still outdated and unfavourable to users, says Quek, the co-founder of Bolt Global, a mobile entertainment company that tracks user and content creator activity via blockchain technology to reward them accordingly. “Users have diligently supplied data and engagement time to platforms, but they haven’t received the benefits or rewards that goes beyond the actual access of the platform.”
With her start-up, the 2019 Gen.T honouree wants to improve access to information, education and entertainment by transforming the way existing social media and video content platforms monetise the collection of user data for advertisers.
On her company’s app Bolt+, the time that users spend streaming content is recorded on the blockchain and can be converted into tokens that they can use. “Our blockchain-powered wallet allows users to earn tokens or digital currencies instantly when they participate in certain activities in the app,” says the digital marketing expert. These activities range from watching advertisements to winning an interactive gameshow to submitting their own content.
The app, which has over 11 million users worldwide and has largely been focused in Africa, South Asia, the UK and increasingly the US, has recorded over 500,000 transactions on the blockchain.