Under The Radar

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 meeting their saving goals.  GXS said this was done through its products offerings such as daily interest crediting which was new to the industry at the time, helping its consumers, who may be more cash-strapped with their cash flows.  The bank started out two years ago by targeting users across the Grab and Singtel ecosystem, which rounded up to a potential market of about 3 million customers here in Singapore.  Its products, like its flagship savings account, were also only limited for selected Grab and Singtel customers, with a deposit cap of S$5,000 due to regulatory reasons.  The product, however, was opened up to new customers in July 2023 and the cap was also raised after a review by authorities.  So how far has that bolstered GXS Bank’s customer acquisition, and levelled the playing field between digital banks and traditional players? Also – how far has its positioning reaped financial benefits?  Meanwhile, Grab had in January this year injected S$145.1 million into GXS Bank.  Both Grab and Singtel are also set to put in a further S$229.5 million into the digital bank in Q3 this year. But what were the reasons behind the move and how does GXS Bank intend to use the money? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, Group Chief Executive Officer, GXS Bank.

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 restaurant business by marrying fast food and Mexican food.  Fast forward to today, Guzman Y Gomez now has a presence across four markets, Singapore, Japan, Australia and the US, wrapping 450 to 500 burritos every hour and using 1.9 million kilograms of avocados a year in Australia alone.  In particular, Singapore was the first international market that Guzman Y Gomez expanded into. It was done through a master franchisee. The country now boasts 15 Guzman outlets and one Guzman Grab kitchen.  But what are the opportunities here in Singapore? And how will Guzman Y Gomez’s master franchisee here support the firm’s wider ambitions to open over 40 restaurants globally each year?  Meanwhile, Guzman Y Gomez has recently taken its plans to go public on the Australian Stock Exchange off the shelves amid the current economic environment.  But what will such major moves at a corporate level influence its franchisees like the master franchisee here in Singapore? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Josh Bell, Master Franchisee and General Manager, Guzman Y Gomez Singapore.

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 favourite brands. With a presence in major markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Melbourne, the firm said in March last year that its gross merchandise value grew 12 times over the past two years, with global sales tripling in the year prior.  Apparently, the US was said to be a bright spot, making up a whopping 25 per cent of overall sales.  But what were the reasons behind the strong growth, and how far can that be attributed to global inflationary pressures and consumers tightening their purse strings?  What does it say about Reebelo’s ability to survive during periods of recession?  Meanwhile, data from Statista suggested the re-commerce market to have generated sales of US$139.6 billion in 2020, and expects this figure to grow to US$275.8 billion by 2028.  What does the doubling of market size in the US mean for Reeblo and how does the size of the market compare against Asia Pacific? What will be the key drivers of growth here in Asia then? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Hari Vijayarajan, CEO APAC, Reebelo.

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 catalogue of over 300 specialised concrete solutions and serves a wide variety of industries such as aviation, underground, transport and more. In particular, its range of over 150 low-carbon concrete products were used in iconic buildings and urban structures such as Jewel at Changi Airport, the Helix Bridge, Gardens by the Bay and even residential homes like the Pinnacles@Duxton and Reflections at Keppel Bay.  Its concrete solutions also moulded infrastructure such as the Tuas Mega Port, our MRT Lines – the Circle Line, Downtown Line and Thomson East Coast Line – as well as highways.  Why are we talking about Pan-United Corporation you might ask. Well, the firm had in February reported a net profit of S$20.4 million for the second half of its 2023 financial year ended December, up 107 per cent from the year ago period.  The performance came amid higher revenue, driven by the firm’s concrete and cement business. But how does the firm assess its latest performance and what will be its key drivers of growth? Meanwhile, Pan-United Corporation also plans to transform its business model to become a solutions provider and sell its intellectual property in sustainable concrete – so what can we look forward to on this front?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to May Ng, CEO, Pan-United Corporation.

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 from a wheelchair.  More notably, the startup aims to detect falls and calls for help without the use of CCTVs to ensure privacy.  The firm currently serves clients within and out of the elderly market, including the Thye Hua Kwan Nursing Home, the Bishan Home, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore, and even the Changi Airport Group.  It recently completed a number of projects related to surveillance and bed exit monitoring in a nursing home in Japan. Meanwhile, Soundeye is part of the Sustainable Impact Accelerator Programme by raiSE and Quest Ventures. It also works closely with government agencies here in Singapore, and has secured subsidies for up to 80% of its projects as of last May, based on a report by Krasia. But what is the strategic value of working with this group of players and how does the firm intend to rapidly scale up its business? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Yeow Kee Tan, Chief Executive Officer, Soundeye.

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 spend on mobile apps.  For one thing, Moloco’s demand side platform allows advertisers to purchase targeted ads on over 2 million apps automatically using a machine powered system, diversifying beyond the big players like Google and Meta. Aside from helping individual advertisers place their ads and improve the outcomes of their media campaigns, Moloco also helps companies like online marketplaces build their own advertising business.  This is done by automatically assigning personalised ads based on real time user activity, with the ability to serve 20,000 advertisers in a day. More recently, the firm also came out with an advertising solution for Over the Top (OTT) and streaming businesses to set up their own advertising business focused on outcomes.  The company had in July last year welcomed Fidelity Management & Research Company and Singapore’s EDBI as its shareholders through secondary share transactions.  The transactions put Moloco at a whopping US$2 billion, 40 per cent higher than its valuation of US$1.5 billion in a 2021 Series C round. But what were the drivers behind the big numbers?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Nikhil Raj, Chief Business Officer of Retail Media, Moloco.

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 understanding where animals are, how they are feeding, and how they are behaving, Chipsafer says farmers can isolate issues and prevent catastrophic loss of livestock due to disease outbreaks.  It could also better increase the efficiency and sustainability of operations. Aside from that, the firm also aims to tackle the issue of cattle theft, an issue prevalent in markets such as Kenya given that many farmers rear their animals in open-ranges that are susceptible to rustling.  With Markets and Markets estimating the agriculture internet to grow from US$11.4 billion in 2021 to US$18.1 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 9.6 per cent during the forecast period (of 2021 to 2026), what opportunities does Chipsafer see in the space?  And are they mostly located within agricultural-based economies and can Chipsafer’s solutions be adapted for modern farmers within Asia?   On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Victoria Alonsoperez, Founder & CEO, Chipsafer.

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 counts tech titans Intel and Samsung among its customers. It had in February reported first quarter revenue of US$6.71 billion, beating estimates, with China’s sales of US$3 billion accounting for 45 per cent of total revenue, up from 17 per cent seen a year ago.  But how does the firm assess the wider business environment given increasing US-China tensions and US curbs to export chipmaking equipment to China, and the increased adoption of innovative solutions like chiplets?  Meanwhile, Applied Materials had in 2022 announced that it is building a S$600 million plant here to expand its manufacturing and research operations with plans to further expand in the city state before the end of the decade. But what was the rationale behind the move? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Brian Tan, Regional President, Southeast Asia and Vice President, Applied Global Services, Applied Materials.

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 intelligent investing in public market equities, as well as other alternative asset classes such as private equity, venture capital and real estate.  The platform aims to serve professionals who have a higher net worth but are not yet able to access private bank services or to have their own family offices. Think of Arta Finance like a personal digital family office with lower barriers to entry.  Since coming out of stealth mode in late 2022, the firm has raised over US$90 million from institutional investors such as Peak XV Partners (also formerly known as Sequoia Capital India), Ribbit Capital, Coatue and over 140 luminaries in the tech and finance space – including, again, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. But what is in it for this group of players to come onboard? Meanwhile, the firm started offering its services in the US through an invite-only model in early 2023 and has since managed over US$100 million on members’ behalf. It plans to open its services in Singapore sometime this year.  But why did the firm choose the US and Singapore as markets to enter into as a start? What can we expect from its Singapore launch?  How far will the firm’s plans to expand aggressively take off from here? And how far away is it from becoming the next fintech unicorn?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Caesar Sengupta, Co-Founder and CEO at Arta Finance and Amanda Ong, Country Manager, Arta Finance Singapore.  

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 of the first international banks to receive a Qualifying Full Bank licence in 1999.  Fast forward to 2022, the firm launched its digital bank venture Trust Bank in partnership with FairPrice Group, to drive digitalisation in the industry.  The firm had in late February announced an 18 per cent increase in pre-tax profit. It also laid out its expectations for the coming years, projecting income to grow 5 to 7 per cent between 2024 and 2026, down from the 10 per cent seen in 2023.  But how far is this driven by its business within ASEAN markets, and how far will its digital bank venture contribute to top and bottom line growth? And with the US Federal Reserve widely expected to cut interest rates this year, what will net interest margins look like for Standard Chartered, and how does it intend to get around lower NIMs? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Patrick Lee, Cluster CEO, Singapore & ASEAN Markets, Standard Chartered Bank.