Bloomberg published an interview with Sutapa Amornvivat, CEO of SCB Abacus, Soo Boon Koh, Founder and Managing Partner of iGlobe Partners and Steve Leonard, Founding CEO of SGInnovate on Bloomberg Live’s ‘Sooner Than You Think’, where Dr Sutapa shared that AI is part of the major force behind the latest developments in not just the financial services but also in manufacturing and agriculture. Founding CEO of SGInnovate, Steve Leonard, shared that SGInnovate believes that AI is not just going to be omnipresent but that we ought to embrace it. Although there are issues such as data privacy, ethics and guidelines which need to be discussed, these are concepts that people need to think about along a journey, not something which must be answered in advance.
Topics: A.I.
The Business Times published an article from a deep tech investing panel based on the launch of the SGInnovate Insights paper ‘Deep Tech Investments: Realising the Potential’. Moderated by Kenneth Lim, deputy news editor of The Business Times, the panel featured deep tech entrepreneurs Dr Sinuhe Arroyo, chief executive of AI startup TAIGER; Dr Tan Geok Leng, chief executive of startup AIDA Technologies and David Toh, deputy director of venture building at SGInnovate. Mr Toh highlighted that family offices are increasingly warming up to the idea of investing in deep tech, because they have acknowledged that technology will disrupt the current industries. A pertinent challenge for the ecosystem is in attracting young talents that have both deep technical expertise as well as business acumen. Noting that it could be difficult to convert a scientist into an entrepreneur, Dr Tan suggested that it could be easier to match a scientist CTO with an entrepreneur CEO. Dr Arroyo also observed that the younger generation has the tendency to look for jobs that give them a sense of purpose, what impact they could have on the company and who they work alongside. Startups will need to give these talents “something meaningful” to work towards, instead of just a “badge of honour” they gain by landing prestigious roles in Facebook or Google.
Topics: Investments, Startups
Deal Street Asia published an article based on an email interview with SGInnovate’s Head of Venture Investing, Hsien-Hui Tong, where he shared that foreign investors are getting more interested in Singapore’s deep tech startups specialising in AI, cleantech and quantum tech. While Singapore’s deep tech ecosystem is still at a nascent stage, the country has many aspects going in its favour, such as strong research institutes, IP protection and multiple global MNCs headquartered in Singapore. Mr Tong shared that what Singapore could have done better in investing in deep tech might have been to emphasise the translation of the research into not just IP to be leveraged by global MNCs and our GLCs, but also into startups who would further develop the IP into commercialisable businesses that could tackle difficult global challenges. While Singapore’s market is not as big or deep as the US or China, he noted that deep tech is a global, not local play. Given the small local market in Singapore, startups are immediately forced to think regional and global from day one. Of local founders, Mr Tong shared that one critique he would have of them would be their low perceived threshold of success.
Topics: Investments, Startups
The Business Times Online reported that Reefknot Investments, a joint venture between Temasek Holdings and Kuehne + Nagel, has launched its inaugural US$50 million global fund to invest in startups "at the forefront" of the logistics and supply chain industry. Its first fund will back six to eight startups in verticals such as AI, digital logistics and trade finance. Investee companies will gain business insights from Temasek, as well as the expertise of Kuehne + Nagel, a transport and logistics giant headquartered in Switzerland. Reefknot's venture ecosystem partners include EDBI, SGInnovate, Atlantic Bridge, Vertex Ventures, PSA unBoXed, Unilever Foundry and NUS Enterprise.
Topics: Investments, Startups
e27 reported that The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) has announced the ninth cohort of its Australian Landing Pad in Singapore. Partnering with SGInnovate, Austrade seeks to recreate the success of the pad in graduating 38 startups that are now doing business in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The Australian Landing Pad in Singapore aims to bring scaleup opportunities to startups; in which it prided itself in bringing its startups to receive over US$17 million in follow-on funding. The Landing Pad programme provides market-ready startups and scaleup with potential for growth a cost-effective option to land and expand into global innovation hubs around the world such as San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Berlin, and Singapore.
Topics: Investments, Startups
Singapore Business Review reported that venture capitalists are looking to inject more funding into Deep Tech as the government strengthens its support system amidst a global tech shift. Deep Tech startups covering AI, BioTech, HealthTech and IoT dominated the eighth edition of Singapore Business Review’s hottest startups list with automotive marketplace Carro topping the list. It is followed by biotech startup RWDC and AI solutions provider AnyMind. Ramesh Raghavan, vice chairman of Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA), noted that HealthTech startups show a huge opportunity although FinTech still remains a huge focus for Singaporean investors, given Singapore’s status as a financial hub. The continued focus on FinTech firms is also being driven by government support, in particular, SGInnovate launched a financing scheme that will invest up to $80m over four years into tech-related verticals, in partnership with co-investment partners such as Golden Gate Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Wavemaker Partners.
Topics: Investments, Startups