Singapore-based SpaceAge Labs, a provider of remote monitoring and IoT/AI solutions, has secured SGD1.7 (US$1.25) million in seed funding, led by deep-tech investor Silicon Solution Partners and SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore.

The startup will use the capital to grow its team, expand internationally, and roll out several pilot projects across Singapore, Australia, and the US.

“Growing populations, increased urbanisation, rising labour costs, lack of skilled workers, high safety standards and social distancing stipulations — various factors have been coming together resulting in the strong need for remote monitoring and IoT/AI solutions. This is why we set up SpaceAge Labs: to help governments and corporations improve the way they are managing their widespread assets for improved efficiency, reliability and safety,” said Deepak Pitta, Founder and CEO of SpaceAge Labs.

Also Read: How to firm up your IoT strategy to combat online risks

Incubated at NUS Enterprise @ Singapore Science Park, SpaceAge Labs carries out operations and maintenance of remote and distributed assets by collecting asset data using low power, long-range wireless IoT devices, together with advanced AI software to generate valuable insights from this data. The firm claims this increases the asset’s uptime (due to data-driven predictive maintenance) and reduces cost (less manpower required).

SpaceAge Labs’s flagship product is remoteEye, a sensor-agnostic IoT/AI platform that enables connected operations and maintenance.

remoteEye consists of three parts:

1. rEyeIoTNodes: Low-powered wireless devices that read and transmit data from industrial sensors located at the assets.
2. Wireless networks: The sensor data is transmitted to the cloud via low power wide-area wireless networks. The networks are low-cost (from S$1 per month per device), able to transmit over long distances (several kilometres) and consume low power (up to five years of battery life).
3. rEye Data Cloud: Enterprise-grade IoT/AI software that stores, analyses, and visualises this sensor data. This software is secure, easy to use, and scale from managing one asset to thousands of assets. Proprietary AI software and geospatial data analysis provide valuable insights and predictions that can be accessed via web or mobile.

While remoteEye can be applied in various sectors, SpaceAge Labs initially targets three sectors: water/wastewater, urban greenery/landscaping, and facilities management.

SpaceAge Labs claimed in a statement that it has IoT deployments with more than 30 customers, including two key Smart Nation pilot projects in Singapore.

In H1 2022, SpaceAge Labs will conduct pilots with landscaping companies in Australia to help improve efficiencies of their grass-cutting work in Brisbane and Sydney. If these are successful, it could lead to nationwide deployments. Similar landscaping pilots will be conducted in the US in the latter half of 2022.

In Singapore, SpaceAge Labs plans to conduct several pilots to monitor water consumption patterns, detect leaks in facilities, and monitor weather/air quality in outdoor spaces. In addition, it will also monitor water quality in swimming pools and water play areas and mechanical/electrical equipment, such as decentralised water treatment skids and water tankers.

SpaceAge Labs is also supported by Imagine H2O (a water innovation accelerator) and PUB’s Singapore Water Exchange. Planetspark, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGX mainboard listed Excelpoint Technology, is also a partner working closely with SpaceAge Labs to help accelerate their technology alongside joining the round as an investor.

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Update: The previous version of this article stated that DeZy enables users to borrow, save, trade, or invest without intermediaries such as banks or brokerages. The company has clarified that its platform enables users to deposit funds and generate yield.

Singapore-based decentralised finance (DeFi) startup DeZy today announced that the company has raised at least S$3 million (US$2.2 million) in Pre-Series A funding round led by Leo Capital with participation from Iterative Capital.

The company also welcomed angel investors such as Michael Ng of Unagii, Tianwei Liu and Sharon Lourdes Paul of Xfers, Ishan Agrawal as well as Nihit Nirmal and Kelvin Teo of Funding Societies.

Existing investors such as HH Investments, HY Sia, and DeFiance Capital also returned in this funding round.

This funding round followed undisclosed funding from local investors such as DeFiance Capital, HH Investments, Impiro, and angels such as Tranglo founder HY Sia in September 2021.

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

In a press statement, DeZy said that it plans to use the funding to support new product launches, grow its team, and “continue to redefine what finance can be for consumers.”

Launched in 2021, DeZy is a platform that enables users to convert their cash into dollar-denominated stable coins, which are deposited across a range of DeFi protocols. Absorbing both blockchain fees and forex fluctuation, DeZy offers up to 5.65 a year, with a 0 fee and no lock-in product to customers in Singapore.

It was started by four co-founders Eric Dadoun (CEO), Harald Lang (CTO ), Sharmini Ravindran (CMO ), and Simon Landsheer (strategic advisor). The company aims to empower people to “achieve meaningful savings, income growth and wealth accumulation” by simplifying decentralised finance.

This is claimed to enable users to deposit funds and generate yield.

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Image Credit: DeZy

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Making a living as a musician is hard. It is estimated that only 0.2 per cent of musicians globally become “successful” while 90.7 per cent remain undiscovered.

The odds are stacked against musicians, but that said, the future of music is brighter than ever with blockchain technology.

Music industry vs musicians

The music industry has been stagnant for decades, and the two major catalysts for change were the various levels of lockdowns across the world and streaming services.

To make a living with music, the bulk of musicians’ income comes from live performance (30 per cent), teaching (18 per cent), salaried playing (12 per cent), composing (11 per cent), session work (10 per cent), sound recordings (7.3 per cent), merchandise (1.9 per cent) and others.

With the pandemic, most of these income channels are down significantly.

Streaming became the only viable way to monetise one’s music. Millions of music lovers can tune in to talented musicians from all over the world who compose music, record songs and get paid for it all in the comfort of their homes.

But the top 3 record labels raked in US$19 million a day from streaming, while eight out of ten music creators earn less than US$200 a year from streaming.

Problems with streaming

All streaming services notoriously underpay content creators.

The largest player in music streaming, Spotify, pays on average US$0.0003 for every stream, and they recently announced that they would lower that even more.

To make the minimum wage of US$20 per hour requires a staggering 67,000 streams per hour.

Just like everyone else, musicians need to pay bills. When live performances and touring were still a thing, they’d be paid in cash after the show. With that option gone, streaming compounds the cash flow problem as their payment terms are 3 to 6 months.

Blockchain, the promising solution

To address the inadequacies of existing streaming services, audio exchange platforms have emerged on the blockchain.

First, there are streaming services that pay US$0.01 to US$0.10 per stream, at least 10 to 40 times more than currently offered by the incumbents.

Second, as the payout is in cryptocurrency, it is instantaneous and can be changed into regular cash (aka fiat).

Third, an additional benefit of being built with smart contracts is that all collaborators on a song will be appropriately accredited and paid fairly.

Also Read: Why brands are seeking micro influencers and where this trend is going

Blockchain as an added layer of technology helps solve the fundamental problems that musicians face. The only thing left to do is to get those streams going.

The keyword is community

To get millions of monthly streams overnight is only achievable with the backing of major record labels and their marketing dollars.

The goal of the average independent musician is to organically build a fanbase or community that supports their endeavours. Kevin Kelly famously stated in 2008 that musicians would need 1,000 true fans to make it.

This requires musicians to be proactive, not just to make music and tour but to foster genuine community engagement.

Social media outlets (Facebook, Discord, Reddit) are not just promotional pits to share announcements and sell merchandise. It should be a two-way relationship where you answer the queries of your fans. Lil Nas X’s social media game is an excellent example of how one should invest time and energy to engage fans.

Looking forward to music rights

No matter how you look at it, music is about ownership rights. In the past, music was all about selling records and signing deals, where the record label owned everything.

Nowadays, with streaming services, music rights are shared. Acts like Chance The Rapper, one of the pioneers in being a successful independent musician, is the epitome of what it can be in the present.

Today, the earning split is better, but the lion’s share is still not sitting with the creators. Streaming services are still centralised platforms with complete control.

Hence, the future of music will be one where musicians are fully independent, owning the rights to their creations and how it is distributed, and hence being able to dictate their earnings.

This can be achieved by making songs into Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), where the digital file can be kept on the blockchain as a one-of-a-kind collectible item.

For the Gen Z of creators and fans, who are savvier than those who came before them, this could be the one way that they can live their lives making music.

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