Under The Radar

Making healthcare more accessible, effective and less invasive. That’s the ambition of our guest for today, Castomize.  Spun off from the Singapore University of Technology and Design in late 2022, the firm aims to do so through the use of medical devices made with advanced manufacturing techniques.  It has since launched its first device, a series of 4D-printed orthopaedic casts which are more comfortable and convenient for patients. The casts are also easier for doctors to apply and remove, and require less resources for hospitals to deploy.  The casts have won awards at multiple startup events including the K-Startup Grand Challenge. As a firm, Castomize was also selected as the first startup in incubator VentureBlick’s super incubator programme.  It is also working with other incubators and accelerators such as Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon, Singapore Management University’s Business Innovations Generator, the Temasek Launchpad and the SUTD.  But what is the strategic value of working with these players and how does the Castomize envision its growth trajectory to be like?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Abel Teo, CEO, Castomize.

Today we’re going to talk about a company that helps organisations create a personalised, measurable and scalable coaching programme for the entire workforce regardless of department and seniority level.  Founded in 2018, CoachHub is a leading global talent development platform with over 3,500 certified business coaches in 90 countries.  The firm provides sessions in over 60 languages and serves over 1,000 clients around the world. They include some of the biggest names including Coca-Cola, Toyota, LVMH, L’Oreal and Twitter.  It says coaching helps firms reap benefits from increased employee engagement, higher levels of productivity, improved job performance and increased retention. And it seems like the market for coaching is a lucrative one. According to a 2020 International Coaching Federation (ICF) study undertaken by PwC, the estimated global total revenue from coaching in 2019 was US$2.849 billion, representing a 21% increase over the 2015 estimate.  But what are the drivers of growth in the industry and what do they mean for CoachHub?  Meanwhile, CoachHub raised US$200 million in Series C funding in a round led by Sofina and Softbank Fund Vision 2 in June last year. The company said then that it wants to use the money to expand its footprint within the APAC region, particularly in Singapore.  But what is the strategic value brought about by this group of investors, and how far has CoachHub’s plans to expand within Asia been realised, one year down the road? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jimmy Li, VP for APAC, CoachHub.

Messaging tools are much needed not just between individuals like you and me, but also between banks and financial institutions to support global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world.  Founded in 1973, our guest Swift is a global member-owned cooperative and also the world’s leading provider of financial messaging services.  While it does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, Swift enables its community of users to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way.  So far, its platform, products and services connect over 11,500 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories.  The cooperative reported that close to 90% (89%) of cross-border transactions processed on its network reached recipient banks within an hour, ahead of speed targets set out by the Financial Stability Board. How is that achieved and what does it mean for Swift looking ahead?  Meanwhile, Swift also developed a Central Bank Digital Currency solution that interlinks CBDC networks and existing payment systems for cross-border transactions. But what wider implications will this have on the financial industry? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Sharon Toh, Head of ASEAN Region, Swift.

Today we’re going to talk about Hong Kong’s biggest cosmetics chain. Make a guess – the chain is known for its pink-and-white shop front.  Does Sasa ring a bell? Founded in 1978, Hong-Kong-listed Sasa first launched in Singapore in 1997 and grew over the years to become the go-to place for make-up and personal care products in the early 2000s. While it was positioned as a discount retailer, the firm’s diversified portfolio extends to over 9,000 products from over 600 international brands of skincare, fragrance, make-up, hair care and more.  A lot has changed in recent years with the entry of retailers such as Sephora and the boom in e-commerce, and the firm closed all 22 shops some three years ago.  But that’s just the start of a new chapter of Sasa’s journey in Singapore, as the firm is making a comeback with its new outlet at Jurong Point Shopping Centre today! Question is – why is Sasa re-entering Singapore right now? What opportunities does it see in Singapore and what will it do differently to thrive in the lion city?  And how does Sasa assess its growth and expansion strategy at a group level with the global retail industry still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 pandemic curbs?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Danny Ho, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Sa Sa International Holdings.

This conversation is set to help you cool down in sunny Singapore.  Our guest for today is Carrier Corporation, which is a leading global provider of sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.  The firm is mainly focused on three business areas, namely heating, ventilation and cooling or HVAC, refrigeration and fire and security.  In total, the segments generate US$20.4 billion in net sales for the year of 2022, with Asia Pacific contributing some 17% to the figure.  With the global heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system market projected to grow to US$228.74 billion by 2030, how does Carrier intend to capture growth looking ahead? What is its area of focus within Asia and particularly in the Southeast Asian markets of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei? Meanwhile, Carrier had in April announced strategic actions to transform its business portfolio and establish itself as a pure-play, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. But what were the reasons behind that? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to  Chong Wai Yen, Managing Director, Carrier Corporation.

Omakase, seafood buffet, beef steaks and warm bowls of ramen or perhaps delicious bowls of bak chor mee, or minced meat noodles topped with a dash of tangy black vinegar. You might have seen countless videos of people recommending restaurants and eateries serving delectable meals on social media, but have you ever how many of them do you end up remembering and trying out?  Well, that’s the problem that our guest for today, Drigmo, aims to solve. Founded by ex-Googlers in 2022, Drigmo aims to be a Spotify playlist, but for food.  Put simply, it is a social app where users create their own restaurant lists, organise the places on a map, and bring the list to life by adding notes, pictures and videos. Users can also see what their friends have on their lists and save discoveries from them.  The app was first announced in Singapore via TikTok in March this year. Since then, users have saved over 45,000 places and created over 15,000 tags on the platform. According to a DealStreetAsia article, the firm hopes to disrupt Google’s restaurant reviews.  So how does the firm define the industry it operates in and its positioning strategy?  More importantly, how much money is in the restaurant review business and what does Drigmo’s growth trajectory look like in the near future? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Pieter Walraven, Co-founder, Drigmo.

Today we’re going to talk about a company formed from the merger of one of the world’s largest privately-owned fragrance & taste companies, Firmenich, as well as, DSM, a company who’s touted as a global, purpose-led leader in nutrition, health and well-being.  Formed in May 2023, the combined entity DSM-firmenich defines itself as an innovator in nutrition, health and beauty, with over 150 years of R&D experience.  The firm boasts a team of close to 30,000 employees across four main business areas, namely: (a) Perfumery and beauty, (b) Taste, Texture and Health, (c) Health, Nutrition and Care and (d) Animal Nutrition and Health.  In particular, the former Firmenich brought in over 4 million consumers it serves in over 100 markets several times a day in the fragrances and flavour markets through items like shampoo, shower gel and fine fragrance, including Ariana Grande’s R.E.M and Calvin Klein's CK One. But how important will the perfumery business be in the newly merged company financially, and how will this influence the strategy ahead for the perfumery business?  Meanwhile, DSM-firmenich remains big on innovation on the perfume side of things. It had in October unveiled five new natural extracts from its Firgood Technology, but what does this mean for the firm where top and bottom lines are concerned?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Levenza Toh, VP, Perfumery, SEA, Japan & Korea at DSM-Firmenich.

Skincare and cosmetics, yes that’s what we are going to talk about on this segment today!  Founded in 1956, our guest BABOR BEAUTY GROUP is a German family business that started out as a niche brand for professionals within the skincare industry.  The company has been headed by the third generation of the owner family since 2014 and has seen rapid growth that made it into the powerhouse for innovation, manufacturing and the marketing of industry leading luxury skincare brands.  Sales have grown from a double-digit million amount to over 240 million Euros. On the whole, the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP now employs over 900 people worldwide, with its brands represented in 70 countries by distributors or subsidiaries.  Question is – what did the third generation owners do differently to unlock the value we’ve seen, and what are the growth opportunities for the future? Speaking of growth, BABOR now wants to deepen its presence in international markets. The goal is to increase the share of its business outside of Central Europe from about 30 per cent to between 60 and 70 per cent by 2030.  But what does the firm intend to do to achieve such ambitious goals, and which is the most important geographical market it will focus on as a starting point? Meanwhile, the firm also recently underwent a rebranding initiative to strengthen its global premium positioning, but how far will this complement BABOR’s other efforts to internationalise? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Tim Waller, Co-CEO, BABOR BEAUTY GROUP and Group President, BABOR & Premium Brands.

Building a talent ecosystem to help the 120 million professionals in Southeast Asia grow their careers. Well, that’s the aspiration and the mission of our guest for today Glints. Founded in 2015, Glints is a recruitment platform that allows organisations to hire the right talent from anywhere in Southeast Asia.  With operations spanning across key markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, the firm has so far empowered over 3 million talent and supported 50,000 organisations in realising their human potential.  And according to a Tech In Asia report, the firm had in September registered “record-high” revenues in the 2022 financial year of S$45.4 million, an 85% year-on-year increase.  Glints attributed this to growing demand for cross border talent. This comes as firms become more willing to hunt for talent outside of their head offices.  But why is this the case? What bearing will this have on Glints’ strategy to acquire talent within Southeast Asia, and how far will this trend continue to drive Glint’s business looking ahead? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ying Cong Seah, Co-founder, Glints.

You might have played Tamagotchi before, but for some of us who grew up in the early 2000s, we went for Neopets. Founded in 1999, Neopets is an immersive, web-based pet game where we raise our virtual pets, collect free items under the Money Tree, and of course, haggle for goods with virtual shopkeepers and get chased off for making an unreasonable bargain.  The online game was a hit back then. According to Mashable, the game saw 25 million users at its peak. A lot has changed since, and Mashable said the firm saw daily active users worldwide shrunk to just 100,000 by 2017.  Some of the mini-games on the website have also become unplayable after the discontinuation of the Adobe Flash Software in 2020.  Internally, the firm has also seen multiple changes to its ownership, from being owned by Viacom, the parent company of Nickelodeon, in 2005, to JumpStart Games in 2014, and thereafter by NetDragon after it acquired JumpStart Games. And when JumpStart Games closed this June, the firm became independent after an undisclosed management buyout deal. Its new management now wants to change things up by restoring minigames and doubling down on the use of intellectual property in merchandise. It wants to bring lapsed players back into Neopia, and capitalise on the nostalgia former users had for Neopets.  But how sustainable is nostalgia as a value proposition, and will it be heyday again for Neopets? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Dominic Law, CEO, Neopets.