Under The Radar

Have you ever passed through automated immigration at airports and wondered who are the people building these biometric systems?  Does NEC ring a bell? Yes, that’s one of the companies behind your smoother experience at airports.  But the company’s operation goes way beyond just biometric systems. NEC is a leading information and technology provider whose expertise includes solutions for carrier n...

Do you still remember the time where you signed off your first employment contract with a ballpoint pen? Well, I’m asking this because we’re going to talk all about signatures, and in particular the rise of e-signatures today.   According to Deloitte, estimates of the global e-Signing market reached between US$2.3 billion and US$2.8 billion depending on the source in 2020. And with the COVID-19 pa...

If you recall, we spoke with used car marketplace Carro some time last month. Today we’re going to bring you an inside look into yet another marketplace - but for alternative investments.  According to the company, Alta is Southeast Asia’s largest digital marketplace for alternative investments ranging from direct investments to late stage private companies, private equity and VC funds, asset back...

The Great Resignation is a term that we’ve heard a lot over the past year.  The term, which was coined in May 2021, described the phenomenon where workers quit their jobs after deferring their decisions to do so early on in the pandemic.  There’s a reason why I’m bringing this term up again - because the hiring scene is what we’re going to talk about on the segment today. According to Statista, th...

At this time of the day we want to ask the question - what’s for - not dinner, but what’s for tea break!  How about bubble tea? Speaking of bubble tea - here’s a fun fact. Did you know that Southeast Asia spent US$3.7 billion on bubble tea and similar “new tea” drinks in 2021?  That, by the way, is according to a report published by venture outfit Momentum Works and payments startup qlub, which al...

If you recall, we spoke about ship chartering on the segment last week. Today we want to double down on that conversation by giving you an inside look into a Singapore-listed integrated marine logistics company called MarcoPolo Marine.  The company works with customers of varying industries on ship chartering and even transhipment services of tugboats and barges. Besides that, Marco Polo Marine al...

Could AI have a hand in equipping healthcare professionals with people management and communication skills? Well according to the founders of Singapore-based AI Startup MediVR, it can!  MediVR is apparently creating generative AI virtual humans that can perceive, talk and respond with human-like training behaviour, allowing professions to practise their people management and communication skills i...

Have you ever wondered what’s behind our 4G, or wifi connectivity? How about a network of shoebox-sized devices sending lasers to one another?  Well, that’s what Singapore-based startup Transcelestial does to bring superfast connectivity to the masses. The company also recently bagged US$10 million in its Series A2 funding led by Airbus Ventures.  Other investors including Cap Vista - which is the...

Singapore is known to be a medical tourism hub due to its good facilities and services, with the country’s healthcare system ranked first in Asia and fourth in the world in the Medical Tourism Index by US-based Healthcare Research Centre. According to the Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore, about 500,000 foreign patients visited Singapore annually for medical treatment prior to the pandemic. While a...

We’re going to speak to global food corporation Cargill today. And in case you’re wondering - we are not going to talk about commodities.  But instead we’re going to talk about their ocean transportation unit, with the company being one of the world’s biggest ship charterers.  The company is seeing several developments relating to its cargo shipping business of late. It has signed a longer-term ch...

Today we’re going to take a look at something that is close to our heart - ageing and eldercare. According to a UN report, there were 703 million persons aged 65 years or over in the world in 2019, and that number is projected to double to 1.5 billion in 2050.  And as the world population ages, one of the most urgent needs for families is caregiving , with demand outstripping the pool of qualified...

We’re going to talk all about housing - and in particular about co-living solutions on the segment today.  According to a quarterly survey by the University of Singapore Real Estate, which was released just a couple of weeks ago, industry players expect the co-living market to continue growing with skyrocketing housing costs and growing inflationary pressure. The results also follow a strong year...

Specialty foam, film and elastomer or elastic polymers used as insulators in electronics, cars and more.  It may very well be under the radar, but hey, did you know that the global market for elastomeric foam is set to reach US$4.462 billion by the end of 2027, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights? That’s a compound annual growth rate of 6.8% during the forecast period of 2020 to 202...

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase ‘prepare for a rainy day’? How about insurance? In fact, we’re going to deep dive into the insurance sector today with Singlife, also formerly known as Singlife with Aviva. The company, which is backed by TPG and Japanese insurer Sumitomo Life Insurance, has been on an expansion drive since it obtained its licence in Singapore five years ago.  In particu...

Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. That’s right - we’re going to talk all about fashion today with Tapestry - the parent company behind the three brands I mentioned earlier.  The company recently released its fiscal 2023 second quarter financial results, where it raised its profit outlook for the full year.  Tapestry also added about 2.6 million customers in North America in the quarter - near...

Whole-cut meat products, printed on-demand for you. Sounds like the magical replicator from Star Trek? Well did you know that this is becoming a reality these days? In fact, an Israel-based biotech company called Steakholder Foods is combining stem cell technologies and 3D printing to create meals on demand.  The company also developed a process that has achieved 50 times more growth in cell produ...

Batteries are on the table today, and no - we are not talking about your AAA batteries here.  Rather, we’re going to talk about lithium iron phosphate batteries that can be used to power electric vehicles, as well as battery packs and grids that can be used to power factories, data centres and communities. On that note, a Michigan startup called Our Next Energy is aiming to double the range of ele...

We’ll talk all about semiconductors manufacturers as the industry continues to face a number of headwinds including a pandemic induced supply shortage.  According to Auto Forecast Solutions, almost 18 million vehicles will have been removed from production plans by the end of 2023 since the chip shortage started. And with US-China’s geopolitical tensions at the top of minds of industry players, ho...

Are you afraid of having your blood drawn? But what if the blood test could detect cancer causing genetic mutations and viruses, and allow for early treatment?   I’m asking this because we are going to look at a company called Lucence, which makes blood tests to detect cancers.  Founded in 2016, Lucence was spun off from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).  It had in 2019 unv...

Chat GPT, Generative AI and the money behind them! That’s what we’re going to talk about on the segment today. Our guest for today is from Microsoft, which has invested over US$10 billion in ChatGPT maker Open AI.  The company also launched earlier this month new versions of its Bing internet search engine and Edge browser powered by the newest technology from OpenAI.  At the launch, Microsoft had...

Ever wondered which are the companies who give startups their first investment cheque? Well, our guest for today Quest Ventures is one such company.  The Venture Capital firm, which was founded in 2011, is a leading venture capital firm in areas such as artificial intelligence, e-commerce and marketplaces, entertainment, finance and even food. It’s also invested in a number of well-known companies...

Buy Now Pay Later or BNPL is a term that has become increasingly popular in recent years. But ever wondered what the phenomenon means for credit data companies and credit bureaus?  Well that’s what we’re going to talk about in this segment with the world’s largest credit data company Experian, which was also appointed to operate Singapore’s buy now, pay later bureau by the Singapore FinTech Associ...

If you recall, we spent quite some time talking about startups and unicorns over the past week. Today, we’re going to look at how a financial institution specialising in SPACs and deal advisory help blank cheque companies access a quality deal pipeline. Speaking of SPAC IPOs, the market for special purpose acquisition companies has slowed quite a bit over the past few months. According to S&P...

We’re going to wrap up the week talking about the automotive marketplace landscape here in Southeast Asia and in particular, we want to talk about Southeast Asia’s largest online car retailer Carro.  The firm had achieved its unicorn status in June 2021 after a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and continued to see stellar growth thereafter. According to technode global, the firm achiev...

Have you ever tried picking up a foreign language? And if so, are you still using it? According to a report by TechRepublic, citing data from FlexJobs, there were over 1,700 bilingual remote jobs listed as at early 2021, which is a 30% increase from the figure in February 2020. And it seems like job demand for bilingual speakers is on the rise as the world becomes increasingly globalised.  Questio...