Under The Radar

In this segment, we want to talk about the people behind a startup’s first few paychecks.  Business management theory would say that the first people who would give startup money to founders are the friends, family and fools, or people who give what they have in their pockets not because they buy into the founder’s idea, but because they genuinely want to help. As the company grows over time, startup founders would then seek to raise money from venture capital firms or institutional investors to scale their businesses.  But between getting money from friends, family and fools and getting money from institutional investors lie a very special group of people. They’re angels who would put their capital in early stage startups based on their experience and subject expertise.  But how do angel investors work, and how do they decide on what to invest?  How far do they negotiate for a larger stake in the startups they invest in, how much say do they have in a startup’s direction for the future, and how do they prevent dilution as startups seek further funding from larger investors? Also – does it make sense for angels to join angel syndicates and which are some of the companies that angels are seeking in the fintech field right now? As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ee Chien Chua, a Fintech Executive & Angel Investor and Vanessa Ho, Co-Founder, Investments, Fintech Nation.

This year’s Singapore Fintech Festival surrounds six major themes that will frame 2025.  At the front and centre of discussions is the Roadmap for AI and Quantum. Of particular focus this year is the boom in generative AI, which uses algorithms to identify patterns within existing data to come up with new content, ranging from text, images, videos and even codes.  The technology is said to hold the potential to radically change the financial services industry, with an EY analysis suggesting that rethinking the financial institution with Gen AI at its core has the potential to create US$200 billion to US$400 billion by 2023, with productivity gains reaching up to 30 per cent by 2028.   In this panel discussion on the Roadmap for AI and Quantum, we looked at where fintech players are at right now when it comes down to generative AI adoption and what the road to achieving an AI-embedded future looks like for them.  We also dived into emerging risks surrounding AI and challenges surrounding the adoption of quantum computing.  Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian spoke with Lim Him Chuan, Group Head of Strategy, Transformation, Analytics & Research (GSTAR) and Group Executive at DBS, as well as Phoram Mehta, Senior Director and Chief Information and Security Officer, International Markets at Paypal for more, as part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024.

Collaborations in the fintech sector are on the cards today, and with the year end holiday season very much in sight, why not talk about maximising your air miles through credit card spend? Specifically, we want to talk about how Heymax, a startup aggregating consumers’ fragmented rewards, worked with digital payments leader Visa in rolling out new products and campaigns to customers throughout the course of the year.  In May this year, Heymax announced a new innovation called Card Maximiser, in partnership with Visa. Powered by the Visa Offers Platform, the feature aims to help consumers seamlessly track their spending and optimise credit card rewards.  More recently, Heymax and Visa in September came up with a sustainable travel campaign to double miles earned from MRT or bus rides using Visa-linked cards over the 9.9 period.  But what are the key learnings from such collaborative initiatives? What are the benefits of getting startups and industry leaders to team up and what made them decide to work together again? How far is collaboration the way to go in the fintech space? As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Adeline Kim, Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei at Visa, as well as Joe Lu, Co-founder & CEO of Heymax.

Did you know that despite what appeared to be a tough time for funding and valuations, the global fintech report coauthored by Boston Consulting Group and QED Investors in June this year noted that the global fintech market remained a hotbed for innovation and growth.  The firms expect fintech to reach a market size of US$1.5 trillion in revenue by 2030. That’s about a five times growth from numbers seen at the time the report was written. However, the report, which was based on interviews with over 60 global fintech CEOs and investors, noted that the rules of the game are changing, with growth at all cost, in their words, “no longer the watchword”. So what are the major themes shaping the financial technology sector in the longer term? What are the headwinds facing the industry right now and how far are they short-term corrections?  And more importantly, what role will Singapore play in the growing fintech space for startups and industry heavyweights? As part of MONEY FM’s on the ground coverage of Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Money Matters’ Finance Presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Shayan Hazir, Chief Digital Officer of ASEAN at HSBC and Reuben Lim, CEO at the Singapore FinTech Association.

We promise to make this conversation a colourful one as we speak to global colour authority Pantone.  The firm is a provider of professional standards for the design industries, creating a universal language of colour that enables colour critical decisions through every stage of the workflow for brands and the manufacturer. But did you know that Pantone’s origins could be traced back to a commercial printing company in New York City in the 1950s? The company had systematised and simplified its pigments and coloured inks, and that’s how the Pantone we know came about. Today, Pantone works with some of the world’s most recognisable consumer, fashion and technology brands, with over 10 million designers and producers relying on its products and services to help define, communicate and control colour from inspiration to realisation.  The firm’s business can be broadly split into four segments: (1) Pantone Standards which feature digital and physical colour specification and workflow tools, the (2) Pantone Colour Institute which provides customised colour standards, brand identity, product colour consulting and trend forecasting, (3) Pantone B2B Licensing and last but not least (4) Pantone Lifestyle that brings colour and design across apparel, home and accessories.  More notably, Pantone is also an operating subsidiary of Veralto, a US$5 billion essential technology solutions leader listed on the New York Stock Exchange. But how does the business work exactly? Meanwhile, Pantone and luxury car maker Porsche together presented an exclusive colour called Turbonite. That’s a colour with an elegant metallic grey tone customised for the brand and its Turbo derivatives. But what does such collaborations mean for Pantone when it comes down to the P&L? On Under the Radar, Money Matter's finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Elley Cheng, President, Pantone. 

Did you know that a ChatGPT query takes up nearly 10 times the amount of electricity needed to run a Google search on average?  That’s right. And what that means is that the current boom in artificial intelligence we’re seeing is driving up a significant increase in data centre workload and demand for data centre capacity. For one thing, the International Data Corporation or IDC expects the surging demand for AI workloads to drive up AI data centre capacity at a projected compound annual growth rate of 40.5% from 2024 through 2027.    But how has that filtered down to data centre operators and related REITs? That’s what we are going to find out from our guest for today, Digital Core REIT.  Listed on the mainboard of the SGX in 2021, Digital Core Reit is said to be the only pure-play data centre Singapore REIT sponsored by data centre owner and operator Digital Realty.  The REIT has a principal investment strategy of investing in a diversified portfolio of stabilised income-producing real estate assets located globally which are used primarily for data centre purposes, as well as assets necessary to support the digital economy. Currently, the REIT holds US$1.4B in assets under management and 10 data centres in its portfolio. But how will this change amid the boom in AI, and how far will Southeast Asia be a bright spot for the firm, with big techs pouring investments into the region to build data centres?  Also – how does Digital Core REIT assess Singapore as a destination to host data centres? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to John Stewart, CEO, Digital Core REIT. 

It’s all about making carbohydrates great again today as we speak to a food tech company that aims to make carbs-heavy food healthier for consumers.  Founded in 2015, Alchemy Foodtech is a Singapore-based food innovation company that aims to create food that not only taste better, but are healthier for people.  In particular, the company formulates food ingredients that can reduce sugar usage and lower the glycemic index in carbohydrate-based foods while improving gut and metabolic health. Such ingredients can be used in items such as rice, noodles, bread, confectionery and even beverages.  In particular, the firm said it is known for its Alchemy Fibre™️. The patented fibre blend is made out of plant ingredients such as corn and legumes and can be added to carb-heavy food products like rice, bread or noodles to prevent sudden blood sugar spikes.  Another product that the company is pushing out is a sugar replacer solution  SweetFibre™️.  So far, Alchemy Foodtech said it has worked with Subway on a lower sugar cookie in Singapore. Some of its other local customers include chicken rice chain Boon Tong Kee, the Springleaf Prata Place and duck specialist Dian Xiao Er. But how far is Singapore a key market for Alchemy, given how the country declared war against diabetes back in 2016?  Also – where does the company intend to expand into to achieve greater scale in the medium to longer term?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Alan Phua, Co-founder, Alchemy Foodtech.

It’s back to the offshore and marine industry today as we speak to a Thailand-based international subsea and offshore services company that services some of the oil and gas majors and their contractors.  Listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2007, Mermaid Maritime provides full turnkey services through its diversified portfolio of subsea vessels, specialised diving equipment and remotely operated vehicles.  These services include subsea inspection, repair and maintenance, cable laying and engineering, transportation and installation as well as decommissioning.  The firm’s operations span across five geographical regions, namely the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia as well as the UK, and has a team of over 500 professional divers, technicians, surveyors, management and support staff.  Mermaid Maritime is an interesting company to watch given how SGX-listed offshore and marine are enjoying positive earnings results for the April toJune quarter and the first half of 2024. That’s as players hold a strong pipeline of work and recover from an earlier slump seen during the pandemic. At Mermaid Maritime, the Group had in Q1 turned around year ago losses. In Q2 2024, it reported a net profit of US$2.9 million, an increase from the last quarter, but a drop on a yearly basis due to higher in-planned financial cost.  Its total order book peaked at US$976 million at the end of June 2024 with multiple project awards in South East Asia, the Middle East, North Sea and Western Sub Saharan region for both short-term and long term throughout FY2026.  But how does the firm assess its outlook ahead?  Meanwhile, with tensions in the Middle East weighing on oil prices, what would that mean for firms serving the oil and gas industry, such as Mermaid Maritime?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Paul Whiley, COO, Mermaid Maritime.

Chipmakers take the centre stage today as we speak to a high performance and adaptive computing leader that is at the forefront of powering generative artificial intelligence.  Founded in 1969 as a Silicon Valley startup, our guest for today is fabless chipmaker and chip designer Advanced Micro Devices or AMD.  The company had driven innovation in high performance computing, graphics and visualisation technologies for over half a century. It currently serves billions of people and leads Fortune 500 companies and scientific research innovations in improving the way people work, live and play.  Now, AMD is a company to watch particularly at this moment in time where we see a rush by global big techs to invest in generative AI infrastructure.  In particular, a Forbes article noted that global big techs spent over US$150 billion in capital expenditure on AI infrastructure for the past year dating from August 2024.  The massive spending raises questions as to how exactly generative AI would augment our daily lives and how big techs can generate returns on the massive spending.  That also means questions as to and whether the demand for generative AI solutions can continue to bolster demand for AI chips at the likes of AMD into the longer term.  At the same time, media reports out in September 2024 cited remarks by AMD CEO Lisa Su where she believes that graphic processing units may not be the architecture of choice for firms working on AI in the next five years.  Su noted that there would be a broadening beyond GPUs in the form of custom AI chips. But what does it mean for AMD in terms of its product offerings and how it is positioning itself for its next bound of growth?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Peter Chambers, Managing Director, Sales, APAC & Country Manager, Australia, AMD.

Carsharing is on deck today as we speak to Singapore’s largest carsharing service, where users can register, book a car and start driving in the span of minutes.  You might have guessed it by now – yes we’re indeed speaking to GetGo. Founded in 2020 in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, GetGo has expanded quickly in recent years to 1,600 locations across Singapore.  The company now boasts a fleet of 3,000 cars, over 300,000 users and over 3 million drives completed. But why are we speaking to GetGo you might ask? Well, the carsharing business is an interesting one to look at because of rising car ownership costs in Singapore. For one thing, a survey by The Straits Times out in 2022 revealed that the high costs of buying a car are putting a dent on car ownership aspirations. So how far has that opened up a market gap for GetGo to fill? Meanwhile, GetGo had in July 2024 teamed up with electric vehicle charging firm Charge+ to introduce the carsharing company’s electric vehicles and Charge+’s EV charging infrastructure together in condominium projects.  GetGo and Charge+ had said that they aim to provide 100 condominiums with such bundled products by 2025.But what were the reasons behind the move, and how much money will the partnership bring to GetGo given the increased adoption of EVs among the younger population?  Speaking of condominium projects, GetGo also said then that it would roll out a new feature in Q4 to provide condominium developers secured access to its carsharing vehicles – but again, what is the significance of the move to GetGo as a company?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ting Feng Toh, CEO and Co-founder, GetGo.