Under The Radar

Nearly 60,000 people – that’s the number of trade visitors who attended the first four days of the Singapore Airshow 2024.   The number of attendees also dwarfs the previous record set six years ago, by about 10 per cent. That was when the last full scale show was held, before the biennial event was scaled down in 2020 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  While the exact number of deals made and the value of them were not disclosed, multiple deals were made at the event.  China’s Comac sealed an order of 50 planes from Tibet Airlines. While APAC carriers such as Thai Airways, Vietjet and Taiwan’s Starlux bought 77 planes from major aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.  So what does this suggest about the recovery of Singapore’s MICE industry post-pandemic, and how are MICE operators positioning themselves for future growth as economic activities come back to life?  Well, we’re going to pose the questions to the organiser of Singapore Airshow 2024, Experia Events.  Incorporated in 2005, Experia specialises in conceptualising and curating trade events of strategic interest that spur industry developments, and also manages the Changi Exhibition Centre. On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Leck Chet Lam, Managing Director, Experia.

Making cables for MRT lines, Jewel Changi Airport and Gardens by the Bay – that’s what we’re going to talk about today.  Founded in 1980, our guest Tai Sin Electric makes cables and wires for a diverse range of industries for both the private and public sectors and in all categories of industrial, commercial, residential and offshore and marine projects.  They include items like low voltage cables, medium voltage cables, instrumentation cables as well as fire resistant cables and wires.  The firm has since completed over 1,000 projects including at the Changi Airport Terminal 4, the National University of Singapore, the SingPost Logistics Hub, the Singtel Data Centre, the National Gallery Singapore, the Jurong Reclamation plant,  Rolls Royce Seletar Campus and at Jem Shopping Mall.  But what is interesting about Tai Sin Electric is its move to expand beyond cables and wires amid the pandemic.  In 2019, the firm was setting its sights on exporting its products to other Southeast Asia countries by taking part in the second run of Enterprise Singapore’s Scale-up SG, before activities came to a grinding halt as a result of lockdowns seen in many countries.  Instead, the firm made the decision to build a new product vertical looking at electrical power distribution with busbar trunking systems. This was a bold move as the systems were a direct competitor to the cables and wires that were Tai Sin’s bread and butter.  But why did the firm decide to push ahead with the move and how far has this brought about tangible benefits for the firm? Also, with economies revving back to life post-pandemic, how far is Tai Sin Electric picking up on its expansion plans?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Willy Chua, Head of Marketing & Group Corporate Development, Tai Sin Electric Limited.

Have you ever seen a dog tucked in his or her dog bed and napping so well that made you go “I wish I could be like him or her?” Well, that could soon become reality for you, with one startup in the US building and selling what they call the world’s first dog bed, but for humans!  Founded in 2021, Plufl was started by two college students at the University of British Columbia when they were craving a nap after a long and exhausting day.  In fact, the two founders’ light bulb moment came when they spotted a Great Dane napping blissfully in the biggest dog bed they had ever seen. But before you go, “does such a value proposition even work”? It does seem like that’s the case from what we’ve seen so far.  Just to illustrate, the co-founders launched a Kickstarter campaign in March 2022 to raise funds to produce their initial batch of human dog beds, after their TikTok videos gained attention among the social media community.  Half a year later, the firm managed to raise nearly $725,000 through its Kickstarter and IndieGogo campaigns.  What is even more interesting is that the firm managed to snag $200,000 in investments from Shark Tank judges Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban, for a 20 per cent stake in the company, in an episode aired in October 2022.  So what is Plufl’s business model exactly? What do profit margins look like and what is it about Plufl that allowed them to secure funds from the “sharks”?   Also – what is the strategic value brought about by having Lori Greiner onboard given her network in the QVC world? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Noah Silverman, Co-founder, Plufl.

Put fintech, payments and affiliate marketing together – and you get a company called Fave.  Founded in 2015, Fave prides itself as Southeast Asia’s fastest growing platform that allows users to pay using QR codes and receive cashbacks on their digital transactions. The firm also enables users to buy and redeem restaurant deals, spa, massage, travel and activity offers using its apps. It even provides eCards to customers to save on their purchases.  So far, the firm operates in 35 cities across Malaysia, Singapore and India with over 40,000 retailers and merchants and 20 million annual transactions. But which is the most important revenue stream and geographical market for the Fave where money is concerned?  And with Southeast Asia’s digital economy tipped to see gross merchandise value hit US$1 trillion by 2030, what opportunities lie ahead of the firm? Meanwhile, Fave is also seeing a number of exciting developments. For instance, Fave had in November last year said it was taking part in the Singapore Quick Response Code+ or SGQR+ POC (proof of concept) led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.  The initiative aims to enhance interoperability between merchants and QR payment apps. But what does Fave’s participation mean when it comes to the dollars and cents? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Hayley Pang, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Fave.

Semiconductors have been the talk of the town for the past two years, have you heard of a new type of chip called chiplets? Think of it this way. According to IBM Research, computer chips today are made using a technique called systems on a chip or SOC, where multiple computer functions such as general processing, data storage are put into a single chip.  While this way of building chips has worked well in the past, every chip comes with multiple functions, some of which that the customer may or may not need.  This means that it is not efficient to use such chips for high performance tasks such as AI computing or big data processing. So what the chiplet technology does is to break apart the system into its composite function parts. These individual parts are called chiplets.  Chiplets could be mixed and matched on a module to then create chips with more efficient and specific functions, just like Lego blocks. They are in fact increasingly adopted by big tech firms such as Apple and AMD. But why are we talking so much about chiplets today? Well, that’s because our guest is startup venture Silicon Box, which focuses on the semiconductor design of chiplets.  Started in 2021 by the founders of NASDAQ-listed chipmaker Marvell, the firm raised US$200 million in a Series B round this year. The firm said its valuation surpassed the US$1 billion mark, making it a unicorn less than three years after founding.  But how does the firm assess its valuation numbers and what are the key drivers of growth in the chiplets space?  Meanwhile, SiliconBox opened a US$2 billion facility in Tampines in July last year but what is the role of Singapore in its wider portfolio? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Mike Han, Head of Business, Silicon Box.

Today we’re going to talk about a company that makes scaffolds – not for buildings, but scaffolds that can be implanted into the human body for bones and tissues to grow.  Started in 1992, our guest is Osteopore, an Australian and Singapore based medical technology company commercialising a range of products specifically engineered to facilitate natural bone healing across multiple therapeutic areas.  One of the firm’s products included the Osteomesh, which is a mesh-like polymer scaffold that can be implanted into patients’ skulls to help them regenerate bone tissues that were taken out in surgical procedures.  Other products include those that can be used for rhinoplasty or a nose implant surgery, as well as those that can be used for jaw surgeries to help people eat and speak normally after injuries.  The firm was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in September 2019 and had achieved a milestone of 80,000 implants across all major continents in 2022.  But how does Osteopore commercialise its products, and are its patients using its implants also its customers? How does it then assess its relationship with insurers?  Speaking of insurers, Osteopore announced in May last year that the most prominent medical scheme in South Africa, the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) has approved the reimbursement of its Osteomesh product. But how big is the South African market to Osteopore and how important is this to the firm’s top and bottom lines?  Meanwhile, the firm had in September 2023 signed an agreement with Temasek-linked InnoVentures to commercialise Osteopore’s orthopaedic products in China, but how much money does this represent for the company? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Dr Lim Jing, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Osteopore.

It’s all about salmon and trout today as we talk to one of the suppliers of land-based fish farming facilities.  Founded in 2017, Assentoft Aqua is a Danish aquaculture engineering company.  It provides fish farmers with what’s known as RAS or Recirculatory Aquaculture Systems that save space, pipes and minimises carbon footprint and the amount of investment needed per produced ton of fish.  The firm has worked on about ten projects in Denmark, Norway, Canada, Ireland and Poland since the business started about seven years ago, with an annual production capacity of about 400 tonnes each. Assentoft Aqua set foot in Singapore in July 2020, and was also behind a US$33m high-tech trout farm in Neo Tiew that could produce about 1,200 tonnes of rainbow trout every year. That’s about 25% of local farmed fish production in 2022.  But why did the firm decide to move into a relatively smaller market in Singapore, given how it was previously focusing on European and Nordic markets? Meanwhile, with food supply chain resiliency thrust into the spotlight amid the pandemic, and countries around the world focusing on self-sufficiency, what does that mean for Assentoft when it comes to demand for modern farming facilities and systems?  On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Matthew Tan, Chief Executive Officer, Assentoft Aqua Asia.

Today we’re going to talk about a company that you would have come in contact with on a day to day basis. Make a guess – this is a company that started as a bakery brand making pork floss buns.  Bingo if you’ve guessed Breadtalk. Founded in 2000, Breadtalk Group is now an F&B group with multiple concepts ranging from bakeries, restaurants  and even food atriums.  With close to 700 retail stores spread across 16 markets in Asia, the Middle East and the  United Kingdom, the company’s portfolio comprises direct owned brands such as BreadTalk, ToastBox, Food Republic, So Ramen and Thye Moh Chan.  The company also counts Din Tai Fung, Song Fa Bak Kut Teh and Wu Pao Chun Bakery as its partner brands. But why are we talking about a brand that most of us would know of? Well, the past four or five years have been full of changes for BreadTalk.  In 2019, the Group bought over food court operator Food Junction in a deal worth S$80 million to obtain additional revenue streams.   And in 2020, the firm’s founder George Quek offered to take the then SGX-listed firm private. It was also that year that the firm cut salaries temporarily amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  A year later, a consortium led by mainboard-listed Lian Beng Group bought over BreadTalk’s IHQ Building in Tai Seng in a S$118 million sale and leaseback deal. Meanwhile, the firm also came up with new concepts like Tau Sar Piah brand Thye Moh Chan and First Street Teochew Fish Soup. It even unveiled a Toast Box Coffee House in Tiong Bahru last year. It seems like there are many moving parts for the firm all happening within the past few years. But what were the reasons behind each of the moves, and how did the firm take the time to reconfigure its business and develop new revenue streams for the future? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Hoo Hoe Keat, Chief Business Officer, BreadTalk Group.

It’s all about helping smaller companies gain access to green financing today.  While companies may think that they need to collect vast amounts of data to track sustainability goals, the fact is that a bulk of that required may have already been tracked in their day-to-day processes. This can be data on their electricity consumption, or carbon emissions, collected automatically through the firm’s existing fleet management or building management systems. But how should firms go about extracting and making use of that data to obtain more capital?  Well, that’s the work of our guest STACS. Founded in 2019, Stacs is Asia’s leading ESG data and technology company.  It collates information from companies’ day-to-day operations as well as data providers like Refinitiv, and presents them in a user-friendly interface to help financiers better understand where the firm is at when it comes to meeting ESG goals. For STACS, its interface is called the ESGpedia. Named after “Wiki-pedia”, the AI-enabled platform powers a number of sustainability related initiatives, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Greenprint ESG Registry.  Currently, the platform covers over five million sustainability disclosure data points, with more than 180,000 companies’ sustainability data. This allows banks and corporates to access accurate, consistent and comparable data on one registry for financing purposes.  But how does it work exactly and how does STACS monetise its platform? Also – how much money is up for grabs for STACs in the near term? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to  Benjamin Soh, Managing Director, STACS.

Today we’re going to bring you an inside look into a luxury brand called Bally. This is a brand that many may have heard about but yet not exactly know about.  Some might think of Bally as a company with a rich heritage in shoemaking, but it was actually founded in 1851 as a family run ribbon factory, three years before Louis Vuitton was born.  The firm expanded rapidly as it industrialised its processes in 1854, and set up stores in Montevideo, Uruguay Paris and France. Today, Bally offers unique designs across shoes, accessories and ready-to-wear, driven by a dedication to craftsmanship and a contemporary aesthetic.  The company has a distribution network of over 320 retail stores and 500 multi-brand points of sale spanning across 60 countries worldwide, including a global e-commerce platform serving 58 countries. Why are we talking about Bally you might ask? Well, the past five years or so have been a roller coaster ride, after a sale agreement in 2018 to Chinese textile company Shandong Ruyi fell through.  At that time, the brand is also one where people know, but yet are not compelled to purchase from, which meant challenges on top and bottom lines.  All of that meant a change in strategy for the firm’s management, which took the chance to reassess its positioning in the luxury wear industry and to transform the shoemaker into a luxury fashion powerhouse focusing on its Swiss utilitarian chic designs.  For one thing, the firm cut its teeth in clothings and had in September last year staged a joint fashion show in Milan with a new creative director.  The show was a hit and drew positive responses at a time when Gucci and Tom Ford – which by the way also had new creative directors lead their show – drew mixed responses. So how has a “Swiss Utilitarian” positioning strategy for Bally worked as it expands beyond shoes? What does it mean where money is concerned? On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Nicolas Girotto, CEO, Bally.