Under The Radar

Today we’re going to talk about a company behind the clothes you buy while on holiday in the US.  This is because that piece of garment you’ve bought from retail giants Walmart and Macy’s could very well be traced back to Singaporean textile and clothing maker Ghim Li! Founded all the way back in 1977 with a collection of six sewing machines and a capital injection of US$3,000, Ghim Li has evolved...

Ice-cream, sauces, seasoning powders, dish soaps, shampoos, deodorants, laundry detergent and hand sanitisers.  There is one common factor linking all these products together – and that’s they are all fast moving consumer goods or FMCGs. In fact our guest for today is part of one of the world’s leading FMCG firms Unilever.  That is the company behind brands such as Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Hellmann’s...

It’s all about flying high today as we speak to the world’s third largest commercial aircraft maker after Airbus and Boeing. Make a guess - we’re actually talking about Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer! Founded in 1969, Embraer is a global aerospace company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircrafts and systems with businesses spanning across areas such as Commercial and Exe...

This is a company that you’ll come into contact with perhaps on a day to day basis.  Make a guess - if you’re thinking along the lines of ride hailing apps - you’re on the right track! Established back in 2010, our guest is Southeast Asia’s ride hailing giant and leading on-demand platform Gojek.   Fun fact here, the firm actually started out as a call centre focusing on courier and motorcycle rid...

The recruitment and staffing landscape is in focus as we speak to one of the leading talent acquisition and management firms here in Asia.  Founded in 1992, HRnetGroup helps business leaders, hiring managers and job seekers build stronger companies, successful careers and better workplace cultures. The firm’s business segments can be split into two, namely flexible staffing or the provision of tem...

It’s all about sentiment within financial markets today as we speak to one of the earliest fintech companies in the world. .  Founded in 1992, our guest Saxo is an international investment firm for investors and traders under the supervision of the Danish FSA, with a reach of over 2,500 professionals around the world including in key financial hubs such as Singapore. Its investment platform provid...

It’s all about travel today as we speak to one of the world’s leading online travel agencies – Trip.com.  On its own, Trip.com is a familiar name to many, with a network of over 1.4 million hotels in 200 countries and regions, as well as more than 2 million individual flight routes connecting over 5,000 cities around the globe.  It is actually part of the NASDAQ and Hong Kong Exchange listed Trip....

It’s literally cherry on the cake to speak to a company said to be the only in the world so far that produces wine from – not grapes, but cherries!  Our guest for today is Frederiksdal, a Danish firm that specialises in beverages like juices and wines made from Danish Stevns Cherry.  These are not the sweet cherries we eat during summer time, but those that taste sour with high sugar and acid cont...

Using technology to change the way people innovate from concept to commercialisation – that’s what we’re going to talk about today.  Founded in Singapore in 2007, our guest is called Patsnap –  or the short form for the phrase “patents in a snap”. The company’s products help businesses analyse competitor patents, identify the white space open for innovation, validate ideas, assess the patentabilit...

We’re going to bring you an inside look into a local apparel maker turned investment holding firm. Founded in 1951, Sing Lun started as a textile trading firm along Circular Road and has seen its business transform over the decades.  For one thing, the firm expanded into apparel manufacturing in 1968 when the second generation owners took over. Over the years, Sing Lun evolved to become the manufa...

Today we’re going to talk about a digital bank that is backed by two of Singapore’s technology and telecommunications powerhouses Grab and Singtel.  You might have guessed by now that we’re talking about GXS Bank. Launched in August 2022, GXS was positioned to address the pain points of Singapore’s underserved consumers such as gig economy workers, self-employed entrepreneurs and early jobbers in...

We’re going to talk Mexican today as we speak to the master franchisee of one of the world’s fastest growing fast food chains, Guzman Y Gomez, here in Singapore.  While the brand sells Mexican food, it was actually founded by two New Yorkers who were in Australia back in 2006!  The duo were missing Mexican cuisine they grew up with in the US, and hence decided to build a rest...

Giving used tech-devices a new lease of life while reducing the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills. That’s what we are going to talk about today.  Founded in 2019, Reebelo is one of the world’s leading marketplaces for refurbished tech devices and lifestyle products like smartphones, laptops and PCs as well as smartwatches.  It enables consumers to save up to 70 per cent on their favourit...

It is all about the concrete that goes into the buildings we live, work and play in today! Founded in 1958, our guest Pan-United Corporation is a Singapore-grown and publicly listed concrete innovation company that aims to catalyse change and promote sustainability in the ready-mix concrete and logistics space.  The company is one the largest producers of concrete here in Asia. The firm has a cata...

This is a conversation you would want to listen to especially if you have an elderly family member at home.  Started as a R&D team consisting of a group of engineers from the Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Soundeye is a social enterprise that uses sound recognition and radar sensors to detect abnormal events such as when an elderly member gets up out of bed or stands up f...

Using the power of machine learning to help companies optimise the Return on Investment of their digital marketing strategies – that’s what we are talking about today.  Founded in 2013 by a group of former Google engineers, our guest is Silicon Valley based ad-tech unicorn Moloco. The company offers performance marketing solutions that help businesses maximise their advertising sp...

Improving the safety and security of livestock herds by ensuring traceability across the animal’s lifecycle. That is what we’re talking about.  Founded in 2013, our guest is Chipsafer, an internet-of-things company that offers real-time Cattle tracking solutions that captures useful data such as the current and historic health, the behaviour and the transaction information of livestock. By underst...

We’ve talked in depth about semiconductor makers on the show, and today we want to go one step further to look at the largest manufacturers of semiconductor equipment in the US.  With an annual revenue of US$26.52 billion, our guest Applied Materials is a leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world.  The chipmaking tool giant...

Today we’re going to talk about a two-year old startup invested by Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai. Founded by a team of former Google executives, Arta Finance transforms the way people grow, protect and enjoy wealth by helping people gain the financial superpowers that were previously the domain of ultra-high net worth individuals.  It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable intell...

The banking sector is in focus as we speak to Singapore’s largest foreign bank serving some 900,000 retail customers in the lion city.  Yes – we’re going to talk about Standard Chartered Bank. Founded over 160 years ago, the bank currently has a presence in 53 of the world’s most dynamic markets and serves clients in a further 64.   The bank opened its first branch in 1859 in Singapore, and became...

One in every six people. That’s the estimated odds of infertility among people of reproductive age worldwide.  But it appears that the fertility services market is highly complex with segments such as egg and embryo banking, frozen non-donor, and fresh donor fertility treatment. Not only that, the market is also highly fragmented, with a large number of small players. In fact, Research and Markets...

Helping tugboats, ferries, pilot boats and other coastal vehicles electrify and ride the green wave – that’s what we are going to talk about today.  Founded in 2022, our guest for today Pyxis is a maritime electrification technology startup that aims to create a more sustainable future at sea by easing mass commercialisation and adoption of electric coastal vehicles. Supported by leading coastal v...

Radium is an element we see in our periodic tables during chemistry lessons. But did you know that it was once used to make watches for naval divers thanks to its self-luminescence quality?  In fact, one luxury firm used to supply such timepieces to the Italian military back in the early 1900s.  And while Radium was banned in the 1960s due to its radioactive properties, the glow-in-the-dark featur...

Cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence – these functions require sophisticated hardware and regular maintenance in order to work seamlessly.  But have you wondered who are the ones managing the lifecycle of the hardware products, from regular maintenance to disposition? That’s exactly what we are going to talk about today.  Listed on the Singapore Exchange since 2016, Procurri Corpo...

Nearly 60,000 people – that’s the number of trade visitors who attended the first four days of the Singapore Airshow 2024.   The number of attendees also dwarfs the previous record set six years ago, by about 10 per cent. That was when the last full scale show was held, before the biennial event was scaled down in 2020 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the exact number of deals made an...