Under The Radar

Fei Siong Group is perhaps most famously known for its brands of bak chor mee or minced meat noodles.  After all, the company that started in 1995, has since grown to become a casual dining and quick service restaurant company with over 150 outlets across 19 brands, with most of them serving your typical hawker fare.   But do you know Fei Siong actually operates the Popeyes chain of restaurants in Singapore?  In fact, the firm inked an exclusive franchise deal with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Asia-Pacific in 2022 to develop and run new Popeyes in Singapore.  Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Asia-Pacific, for context, is owned by Restaurant Brands International or the company behind Burger King and Tim Hortons. The agreement marks Fei Siong Group’s first venture into the fried chicken quick service restaurant industry. Question is, why did Fei Siong decide to make its foray into the fast food business?  Meanwhile, the firm said it plans to “refresh and modernise” Popeyes outlets across Singapore by revamping storefronts, introducing new menu items and adjusting recipes to better suit the Asian palate. But what can we expect on this front? Also, Fei Siong Group is also looking to have 50 outlets in Singapore within the next 10 years, but what is the basis behind the expansion plan? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jedrick Tan, CEO, Fei Siong Fast Food (Popeyes PL Singapore). 

A switchboard is known as a piece of equipment that directs all phone calls made to and from a particular building and area. But what about a switchboard that automatically helps enterprises direct and organise data into dashboards for business leaders to carry out data-driven projects on revenue operations, deal plannings, and campaign performance?  Well, that’s exactly what our guest Switchboard does. Founded in 2014 by the former Google BigQuery employees, Switchboard provides a platform for revenue and marketing teams to launch and maintain data projects at scale without the need for specialised data engineering teams.  The firm said its platform can make it 10 times faster for firms to implement data projects as compared to hiring a team of data engineers and managing vast amounts of data on their own.  Its software serves clients from a wide range of industries ranging from retail, technology, franchise operations and financial services. This includes a number of notable players such as Spotify and Orangetheory Fitness.  But what do clients in these industries require and how does Switchboard plug the gaps? Meanwhile, Switchboard had in July this year received US$7 million in a Series A funding round led by GFT Ventures and Quest Venture Partners. But what opportunities do investors see in them? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ju-kay Kwek, CEO, Switchboard AND Joseph Lee, Partner and Head of Investor Relations, GFT Ventures.

Today we’re going to bring you an inside look into the largest liquor company in the Philippines that is also the world’s biggest brandy manufacturer. Founded in 1979, Emperador is a holding company that operates an integrated business of manufacturing, bottling and distributing distilled spirits and other alcoholic beverages from the Philippines and Europe.  Its consolidated portfolio includes brands like the Emperador Light and whisky brands such as The Dalmore. It also entered the global Scotch whisky business through the acquisition of Whyte and Mackay in 2014.  The Manila-listed firm made its debut on the Singapore Exchange last July, and became a constituent of the Straits Times Index last September, making it the second regional spirits company listed on the SGX after Thai Beverage. So what is the role of Emperador’s Singapore business in the bigger scheme of things? Meanwhile, the company saw revenues increase by 10 per cent year-on-year to P47.1 billion in the first nine months this year. Emperador said its international business continued to experience double digit growth particularly in Asia and North America.  But why is this the case, and what are the key drivers of growth for the firm in the near future? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Glenn Manlapaz, CEO, Emperador International Division.

What do you think of when you hear of the 32-year-old Sonic the Hedgehog? Well, how about Sega? Founded in 1960, Sega Corporation is a player in the games business, having been engaged in the planning, development, sales and operation of games for home video game consoles, PCs and smartphones.  The firm was a major player in the console space back in the early 1990s, having about a 65 per cent share of the 16-bit console market in North America back then, against players such as Nintendo and the Sony Playstation.  A lot has changed since, especially after a number of moves including the failed  launch of the Dreamcast in 1998. Sega stopped the production of consoles in 2001 to become a third-party video game developer. Fast forward to the present, the firm’s boasts over 12 major games titles within its console business division including the Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, the Football Manager 2022 and the Sonic Frontiers.  It is also seeing a number of exciting developments of late. In 2021, the firm said it is exploring a strategic alliance with Microsoft to develop big budget titles using its Azure cloud platform.  This April, it announced a plan to purchase Angry Bird maker Rovio Entertainment for US$776 million to bolster its mobile gaming business. But what does the road ahead look like for Sega in the billion dollar global video game market and what will be its key drivers of growth? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Yoshinori Akiyama, Managing Director, SEGA Singapore.

For this session, we’re going to talk about how artificial intelligence is influencing the way investment firms shape their business decisions.  Founded in 1992, our guest Saxo is an international investment firm for investors and traders under the supervision of the Danish FSA, with a reach of over 2,500 professionals around the world including in key financial hubs such as Singapore. Touted as one of the earliest fintech in the world, the firm’s platforms provide users access to global capital markets across asset classes, while its open banking technology powers over 200 financial institutions to enhance their investment experience. With the AI fever pushing US equities to new extremes this year, what will this mean for Saxo in terms of the range of investment options it provides to users, and the companies it brings on board its platform?  For one thing, the firm partnered with Jaaims Technologies in 2020 to facilitate investors to automate the management of their portfolios. But what are the reasons behind the move?  What role will wealth advisors play in the age of Generative AI then? In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Adam Reynolds, APAC CEO, Saxo.

For this session, we talk to a company whose ticker symbol only has one letter.  Bingo if you’ve guessed Visa. On that note, did you know that Visa was actually founded by the Bank of America when it launched its first consumer credit card programme in the US?  Well, a lot has happened since, with the firm expanding internationally in 1974 and the introduction of the debit card in 1975.  Fast forward to the present, Visa is a trusted network and a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across over 200 countries and territories.  Just to give you some numbers, the company issued some 4.2 billion Visa cards as of March 2023, and oversaw 269 billion payments transactions for the 12 months ended June 2023.  The firm is also seeing a number of developments of late, working with Swift to streamline cross border B2B transactions. But what is the rationale behind the move? Meanwhile, the firm also launched its advisory service to help them better tap Generative AI and improve their payment experience. Question is – how far can Generative AI drive Visa’s business in its next bound of growth?  In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to  Adeline Kim, Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei, Visa.

Supporting financial institutions in their efforts to leverage technology and transform digitally. That’s what we are going to talk about in this session with my guest from Temus.  Established by Temasek in partnership with UST, Temus provides digital transformation solutions for the private and public sectors, and aspires to be a strategic partner in realising the Singapore Government’s Smart Nation vision.  The Singapore headquartered firm has over 200 employees across a wide range of disciplines in strategy, design, architecture, technology, data and AI.  In the field of finance specifically, Temus recently announced a transformative partnership with award-winning fintech firm Nexus FrontierTech.  The collaboration aims to revolutionise the landscape of investing with the introduction of an AI-augmented portfolio management solution tailored for asset managers seeking unparalleled efficiency and performance. But what is the rationale behind this move and how far will this benefit FIs in Singapore?  Meanwhile, the firm had in April signed a partnership with AI Singapore to catalyse digital transformation, promote AI adoption, and develop new AI technologies, solutions, and applications for firms based in Singapore. What will this mean for firms within the financial industry here? In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Marcus Loh, Director, Temus.

It has been close to four months since our earlier interview with the CEO of HSBC Singapore Kee Joo Wong.  At the time, we talked about HSBC’s new Innovation Banking Unit carved out from the UK subsidiary of SVB, and whether HSBC would move into catering services for players in the VC and startup landscape. Kee Joo told me to keep a lookout for an interesting development out of the unit that will be announced at the Singapore Fintech Festival.  The secret is now out, as HSBC Singapore announces a partnership with early-stage VC firm Antler to facilitate the growth of Southeast Asian innovation companies and entrepreneurs based in Singapore.  This collaboration aims to provide startups and founders that are a part of Antler’s network access to financial expertise and banking solutions such as preferred business banking accounts, venture debt and working capital facilities designed to support their needs and enable their growth and future expansion. But what is the rationale behind working with Antler? How will HSBC assess their risk profiles and ability to repay?  In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Jo Miyake, Chief Commercial Officer, Global Commercial Banking, HSBC.

Did you know that Poland is becoming an increasingly attractive and leading market for activities in financial innovation due to its well-developed infrastructure, quality business environment and outstanding talent?  In fact, the country boasts half a million IT professionals, the most in the Central East European region. Not only that, Poland also consistently ranks among the top three countries with the best programmers in the world.  It is home to one the biggest game studios in Europe, CD Projekt - known for the Witcher series and the futuristic Cyberpunk 2077. And you know those little chat windows on websites? Poland's LiveChat is one of the companies making that magic happen. Given these assets, the country is well positioned to tap the boom in the fintech sector and has also seen global fintech eager to enter the market. For one thing, the fintech sector grew by 32% from 2020 and by as much as 79% compared to 2018. The market is also maturing with the debut of VC funds and the opening of R&D and business service centres by international financial instructions. More Polish fintechs are also taking the chance to think internationally and put themselves on the global map.  But what are some success stories of Polish startups? And how can Poland and Singapore firms further collaborations to grow the fintech pie?  For more, I speak with The Polish Investment and Trade Agency, or PAIH. The agency supports Polish fintechs and attracts foreign investment to the country, and is the first point of contact for investors and a partner for entrepreneurs.  In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to  Lukasz Grabowski, Director at Polish Agency for Trade & Investment and Magdalena Smolak, Head of PAIH Trade Office in Singapore.

You might have heard of Stormtroopers in the Star Wars franchise. But what about YouTroopers?   Well, YouTroopers is a term used to describe globetrotters who use multi-currency mobile wallets and prepaid debit cards by fintech startup YouTrip! Launched in 2018, YouTrip is a regional financial technology startup that seeks to empower people with a smarter and more convenient way to pay in foreign currency through in-app exchange. Think of it as a money changer, but located within a mobile application.  Besides providing individuals with a hassle-free way to pay in foreign currency through in-app exchanges, the firm also provides individual and SME clients with personal and corporate cards that they can use to spend in stores.  The company raised US$50 million in its latest Series B funding round to invest in technology and innovation, as well as to hire over a hundred workers to launch in new markets across Southeast Asia. But why is the firm expanding aggressively at this time, and what kind of innovations can we expect on this front?  How will that accelerate financial inclusion in the region? In this Singapore Fintech Festival edition of Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Arthur Mak, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, YouTrip.