July, August & September 2023
Singapore’s tech news in 2023’s third quarter covered items including: DBS Bank’s steps into the metaverse; Singaporean AI-driven breast cancer diagnosis; Singapore’s hardened semiconductors for use in space and similar testing conditions; and more.
For our other editions, you should take a look at Asia’s tech news, daily, delivered via social media channels, and our Indo-Pacific tech newsletters for a weekly update on the region’s tech news.
Hit the links below for each month’s headlines, or scroll down for an all-in-one update on Singapore’s tech news in Q3 of 2023:
September 2023 | August 2023 | July 2023
e-Conomy SEA 2023: Singapore report – Google, Temasek, Bain & Co
September 2023
Singapore: National Artificial Intelligence Strategy
- Singapore: An intro to WealthGreen, soon to launch an app allowing retail investors to buy and hold carbon credits for potential resale
- Singapore: A look at FathomX, AI-powered breast cancer solution improving diagnoses, with false positives reduced by over 20% and false negatives by over 38%
- Singapore’s Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India closes 5th fund at $541M, with $50M commitment to back startups led by women founders
- Singapore: GlobalFoundries opens $4BN, 23,000-square meter facility to meet projected semiconductor demand, manufacturing chips designed by global firms
USSC: Bolstering the Quad – the case for collective maritime security
- Singapore: Nanyang Tech University, Nat’l University of Singapore, and state-owned Temasek to invest $55M to boost tech commercialisation, developing a common IP licensing framework
- Singapore: Hydromover electric cargo vessel to start sea trials and likely launch by year-end, featuring 25-ton cargo capacity and quick-swap battery tech
- Singapore: OCBC bank customers in the city-state can now make QR code payments in China under new Alipay partnership
- Singapore: Quadria Capital looks to raise up to $1BN for Asia-focused healthcare fund
- Singapore-based Grab tech giant in talks for partial acquisition of Delivery Hero’s Asia operations, absorbing the Foodpanda brand in a number of SEA nations
e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2023 report – Google, Temasek, Bain and Co
August 2023
pwc: Fintech Innovation in Singapore – growth in uncertain times
- Singapore: Cerebry artificial intelligence-driven education-tech startup raised $1M with ‘adaptive learning’ focusing on K-12 students across the Asia Pacific
- Singapore: Monetary Authority allocates $112M over 3 years to boost grasp emerging tech and boost innovation in the city-state’s financial sector
- Singapore: Grab ride-hail giant to acquire Trans-Cab, Singapore’s 3rd-largest taxi operator, gaining 2200 taxis, over 300 private-hire vehicles, fuel pump operations and more
- Singapore: X-PITCH 2023 applications are open to September 15th, this year running high-intensity 60-second pitch challenges on the Singapore River
- Singapore: Hegg launches eggless Japanese-style mayonnaise, looking at opportunities across Asia with ‘localised flavours’
Singapore: National Artificial Intelligence Strategy
- Singapore: Beep launches VoltNet, network of 1350 EV charging points from 11 operators, with sights on 5000km charging ‘highway’ spanning 5 countries
- Singapore: An intro to NEU Battery Materials, focusing on lithium extraction via environmentally-friendlier electrometallurgy, making extracted lithium available for production of new batteries
- Payoneer gains Singapore payments license, allowing account issuance, cross-border and domestic transfers, e-money issuance and merchant acquisition, fueling SEA expansion
- Singapore’s DBS Bank launches metaverse foray with DBS BetterWorld to raise awareness about environmental, social, and governance issues, starting with global food waste
World Economic Forum: Markets of Tomorrow Report 2023
- Singapore: Qashier digital commerce firm gains $10M with over 6K merchants in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, with services spanning inventory, customer loyalty, QR ordering and more
- Singapore’s Charged Asia EV firm gains $40M with primary focus on Indonesia, with ‘zero-energy’ production, 3 models of 2-wheel e-bikes, and sights on Vietnam and wider SEA growth
- Cambodia: An intro to Singapore’s Boost Capital, providing chat-based loan applications for the unbanked and underbanked, aiming to make the process cheaper and more efficient
- Download: ‘Digital Trust Insights 2023 – The Southeast Asia Perspective’ from pwc, a survey of 122 business, tech & cybersec execs across Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore
- Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia & Singapore advance with implementation of bilateral transactions via QR codes, with payments settled in local currencies
SGInnovate: Singapore early-stage emerging tech startups 2022
July 2023
pwc: Fintech Innovation in Singapore – sustaining growth in uncertain times
- Singapore’s UnaBiz looks to raise $100M Series C with retail tracking units capturing demand from retailers and manufacturers during freight delivery, without use of expensive telecom networks
- Singapore central bank, Amazon and Int’l Monetary Fund unveil ‘purpose-bound’ money concept, proposing digital currencies for specific uses via blockchain and non-blockchain ledgers
“Currently, e-commerce often requires upfront payment, securing the interest of merchants while leaving customers vulnerable. Conversely, cash-on-delivery options prioritize customer security but leave merchants, especially those dealing with perishable goods such as food, exposed to risk.”
“The MAS claims that its new concept of purpose-bound digital money could bridge this gap. By ensuring funds are transferred once service obligations have been fulfilled, it promises to provide an equitable solution, benefiting both consumers and merchants.”
- Singapore: Sunrate digital payment platform gains funding in round led by Prosperity7 Ventures, fund under Saudi oil group’s Aramco Ventures, and also featuring SoftBank Ventures Asia
- Singapore: An intro to Zero-Error Systems, making ‘hardened’, more reliable semiconductors for satellites and space use, EVs, autonomous vehicles and more
Tech in Asia Conference 2023 – October 18-19, Jakarta
- Singapore: Hydroleap green wastewater tech firm raised $4.4M Series A funding with chemical-free treatment solutions for a variety of industries
- Singapore-based Lazada e-commerce giant gains $845M from Alibaba, further deepening Alibaba’s controlling stake in the company
“Lazada’s affiliation with Alibaba’s Global Digital Business Group, alongside AliExpress, Trendyol, and Daraz, helps the startup to grow a network of prominent e-commerce platforms under Alibaba’s umbrella.”
“The recent reorganization of Alibaba into six business units, including Lazada’s placement under the International Digital Business Group, is a strategic move aimed at increasing agility and autonomy, potentially paving the way for Lazada’s future Initial Public Offering (IPO).”
“Industry analysts have highlighted the potential benefits of this decentralization, indicating that it could grant Lazada the flexibility to make faster and more localized decisions, catering to the diverse and rapidly evolving markets in Southeast Asia.”
- Singapore: Silicon Box opes $2BN, 73,000-square metre advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility to focus on ‘chiplets’ tech
- Singapore: Zuno Carbon climate-tech firm gains $2.5M with Veridis ESG management platform, providing auditable tracking of greenhouse gas emissions and AI-driven analysis
- Australia’s VentureCrowd equity crowdfunding platform inks JV with Singapore’s Lightworks Ventures for SE Asia expansion
SharePass: Online digital security solution
Indo-Pacific TECH news
All-day tech news updates from across the broad – and increasingly strategically and technologically important – Indo-Pacific region, and across South and Southeast Asia:
- Indo-Pacific tech daily on Twitter
- Indo-Pacific tech daily on Facebook
- Indo-Pacific tech news on LinkedIn
Our mobile app is currently offline, due to the ongoing devolution of what was Twitter, now X.
We aim to have the app back online with a much-improved interface and broader functionality by the end of 2023.
World Economic Forum: Space Applications in Agriculture
Indo-Pacific TECH newsletter
Our weekly e-newsletters go out via Substack and LinkedIn, giving a one-glance grasp of the week’s technology news from the Indo-Pacific and South & Southeast Asia.
