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Booqed survey finds demand for flexible workspace on the rise   By David Wong   This week, we had an inquiry for a company seeking to urgently relocate its call center to an alternative location as part of its COVID-19 contingency plans. The question was similar to many we have received over the past

Your own, low-cost form of insurance against threats to your business   By Kevin Fitzgerald   A business continuity plan (BCP) is a comprehensive plan with contingencies for business processes, assets, human resources, and business partners in case of an emergency. It defines steps that can be taken to re-establish productivity, secure key assets,

The funding is one of the largest for a Singapore health tech startup within two years of launch.   By Sharon Lewis   Singapore-based health tech company Doctor Anywhere has closed its Series B at US$27 million, in one of the largest financing rounds within two years by a Singapore health tech startup, the

The world is waiting for a silver bullet to counter COVID-19   By Sharon Lewis   As the whole world was bringing in the New Year on 31 December 2019, doctors in Wuhan, China were treating the first known cases of pneumonia caused by an unknown parasite. These were COVID-19’s first strikes, heralding the

Online accelerator programs to bolster your startup trajectory no matter where you are   By Sharon Lewis   Investments, mentorship, connections, and pitching opportunities–a startup accelerator brings all of this and sometimes more to the table. These entrepreneurship hubs give startups a highly conducive environment to test ideas and work on their elevator pitch.   With

Hydration station on-the-go   By Min Chen   Effervescent tablets are nothing new, as their origins date back to the late 19th century. Boasting portability and ease-of-use, they have a range of applications for the consumption of supplements and pharmaceutical products. Most consumers only come across them in the checkout line, where they may

As COVID-19 forces millions to take work home, remote working tools have seen a boom   By Sharon Lewis   Stewart Butterfield, Co-Founder and CEO of channel-based messaging app Slack, discussed remote working and business communications with Alex Zukin, Managing Director of Software Equity Research at RBC Capital Market, on an investor webcast that

Honestbee currently owes around US$230 million, and ex-chairman Brian Koo and his companies own almost 90% of the debt   By Monika Ghosh   Singapore-based grocery delivery startup Honestbee has been on a downward spiral since early 2019. Starting with layoffs and a 'pause' on business in the Philippines, it soon became clear that

Expara is launching global virtual accelerator program VirTech in response to COVID-19 The three-month program will accept 30 companies, and provide funding of up to US$50,000 per team Startups at any stage across industries can apply Applications close on 30 April 2020   By Sharon Lewis   When SARS-CoV hit the world in

Ad budgets to be split between online and offline ads in 60/40 in 2020 against 50/50 last year   By Monika Ghosh   On March 23, Nielsen Media released its latest 'Advertising Projections Survey', in collaboration with Hong Kong Advertisers Association (HK2A). According to the report, the advertising budgets of companies are expected to

The data mining startup identifies an “industrial ecological chain” as one of its key focus areas   By Sharon Lewis   In spite of China’s currently-sluggish economy (exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis), Beijing-based MiningLamp Technologies has raised US$300 million in a Series E round, the company said in a statement on Friday, March 27.   MiningLamp,

Kargo Technologies becomes part of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia’s digital transformation plan   By Sharon Lewis   Kargo Technologies, a freight logistics startup based out of Indonesia, secured a strategic investment from Amatil X, Coca Cola Amatil (CCA) Indonesia’s corporate venture capital wing, CCA announced in a statement today. The statement did not disclose the

This is the second of three partnerships so far this month.   By Sharon Lewis   Tokyo-based electrical engineering and software company Yokogawa Electric Corporation announced in a statement yesterday that it had acquired Danish artificial intelligence (AI) startup Grazper Technologies ApS for an undisclosed amount on 20 March 2020.   Founded in 2015 in Copenhagen,

The latest acquisition extends Capgemini's digital transformation capabilities in the APAC region   By Monika Ghosh   Capgemini has signed an agreement to acquire Australia-based MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform consultancy WhiteSky Labs, according to a press report released by both firms. The deal is expected to be closed in a few weeks, subject to usual

Research-backed rules for a solid work-from-home policy   By Sharon Lewis   One of the first known uses of the term “digital nomad” was in a 1997 book of the same name. Today, digital nomadism, or remote working, is both a lifestyle and a career option legitimized by freelancers and consultants.   In the time of

When in the wild, how does blockchain thrive?   By Kenneth Bok The long-term utility of any technology is often measured by its essentiality, determined by the extent to which its use becomes second nature. In other words: the more invisible, the better. Take the Internet, for example; the ability to complete an

Financing integrated, inclusive, and sustainable waste management.   By Sharon Lewis   Blue Planet Environmental Solutions announced today that it raised US$25M in corporate funds from Asian global investment bank Nomura’s Loans and Principal Investments Area. The company said in its statement that the investment will help Blue Planet develop waste management solutions that

CureFit valuation likely to cross US$800 million   By Monika Ghosh   Health and Fitness startup CureFit raised US$110 million in its second Series D funding round led by Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, which invested approximately $71.8 million of the total. Existing investors Accel Partners invested $14.2 million, while Chiratae Ventures and Unilever Swiss Holdings

No investor? No problem.   By Sharon Lewis   Getting funded can be an uphill task for a startup, particularly for those with physical products that require an investment in materials and manufacturing. Crowdfunding is a simple solution to that problem.   Crowdfunding is a method of raising funds from the public in the form of

Machines may be more intelligent than human beings, but that may not make them smarter.   By Sharon Lewis   One of the most photographed women at the 2016 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival was not human. Hanson Robotics’ humanoid robot Sophia became an instant celebrity after her first public appearance at the festival.

Understanding the basics   By Monika Ghosh   Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency that allows instant payments to anyone across the world through encryption keys, thereby protecting the identity of the traders. In other words, Bitcoin is electronic cash that uses peer-to-peer networks and eliminates the need for a financial institution. This

The Asia-Pacific region has taken over this Silicon Valley phenomenon   By Sharon Lewis   Unicorns were mythical, until Aileen Lee made them real. She used the term in 2013 to label US software startups that were valued at US$1 billion or above. At that time, the world knew of only 39 such companies,

Do we want more ‘WeWorks’ ?   By Elaine Tsung   Capitalism is known to be an economic system where investments and the distribution of goods are determined by competition in the free market. As history has shown us, capitalism stands out as an effective system, as supply and demand in a free market

By Monika Ghosh   Fintech has become one of the most used words in the startup ecosystem today, yet few fully understand how it's grown or can define its scope.   An abbreviation for Financial Technology, fintech refers to new technologies that seek to improve and automate the use and delivery of financial services.

The investment was led by Source Code Capital, followed by Walden International and Shanghai S&T   By Monika Ghosh   Shanghai-based intelligent robots developer Keenon Robotics concluded its Series B funding round with close to US$28 million in investment, according to a statement released on March 9, 2020. Beijing-based Source Code Capital led the

Flare is number one in automotive advertising in Thailand, claims CEO Kazuki Kamiya   By Monika Ghosh   Thailand-based automobile-related service provider Flare announced on March 23 that it has raised US$1.4 million in Series A funding from Spiral Ventures, Chiba Dojo, Sun Asterisk, and Voyage Ventures. The investment was received through third party

By Patrick Hogan   Small-business owners are said to be the lifeblood of economies around the globe. However, one out of five businesses fail in their first year (US. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A large reason behind this rate of failure is a lack of experience managing cash flows.     About 82% of businesses

By Sharon Lewis   Singapore-based digital currency exchange BiKi.com has listed decentralized stablecoin Dai on its exchange platform, according to a statement released by BiKi.com this week. Dai is soft-pegged to US$1, and is reportedly the second largest stablecoin by overall collateral value.   A stablecoin is a user-generated collateral-backed cryptocurrency. Derived from the

By Sharon Lewis   The ‘Three-Way Talks’, a panel discussion on blockchain and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on it, was held earlier this month, according to a press statement by ChainUP. The discussion focused on latest developments in the blockchain industry, as well as collaborative opportunities during the ongoing pandemic.   The list of

Including the current funding, Udaan has received a total investment of US$900 million   By Monika Ghosh   In a fresh round of financing, Bengaluru-based Business-to-Business (B2B) ecommerce startup Udaan raised US$30 million from Singapore-based parent company Trustroot Internet on March 23, according to a press report. Udaan passed a special resolution to allot