Equities staged a relief rally as oil prices retreated from recent highs, offering investors breathing room following intense volatility driven by conflict in the Middle East and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. This moment captures a market searching for stability while navigating geopolitical uncertainty, central bank policy shifts, and the accelerating integration of digital assets into traditional portfolios. The interplay between these forces reveals a financial system in transition, where institutional adoption of crypto assets now moves in lockstep with macroeconomic signals.

Energy prices eased as WTI crude fell 5.1 per cent to near US$93.50/bbl. This decline followed signals that more tankers might traverse the Strait of Hormuz, as well as reports of potential emergency stockpile releases from wealthy nations. The pullback in oil provided immediate relief to inflation-sensitive equities, yet the underlying geopolitical fragility remains. Traders now watch the API Weekly Crude Oil Stockpiles report for confirmation of demand trends during this ongoing energy crisis. Meanwhile, central bank attention dominates the macro landscape. The Reserve Bank of Australia met on 17 March with markets widely expecting a 25-basis-point hike to 4.1 per cent to combat inflation. All eyes then shift to the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting on 17 to 18 March, where policymakers will offer clues on 2026 rate trajectories. Any hint of prolonged restrictive policy could quickly reverse the day’s risk-on sentiment.

Corporate markets reflected the AI investment thesis that continues to shape equity valuations. NVIDIA Corp. climbed 1.6 per cent following projections that it could generate at least US$1 trillion from AI chips by the end of 2027. This milestone underscores how deeply artificial intelligence has embedded itself in market expectations, driving capital toward companies positioned at the infrastructure layer of the next technological cycle. In commodities, gold steadied near US$5,007–US$5,015/oz, remaining close to all-time highs despite minor dips ahead of the Fed meeting. The metal’s resilience signals persistent hedging demand even as risk assets rally, a reminder that investors maintain a dual posture of optimism and caution.

Also Read: Bitcoin surges past US$73,000 while gold dips: Why crypto just decoupled from traditional markets

The cryptocurrency market delivered one of the day’s most compelling narratives, rising 4.48 per cent to US$2.58T in 24 hours. This move was primarily driven by Bitcoin-led momentum fuelled by institutional demand. Notably, Bitcoin maintains a 53 per cent correlation with the S&P 500, confirming that digital assets now respond to macro drivers as much as idiosyncratic crypto factors. The primary catalyst remains sustained inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs, with US$793M added last week alone. This persistent institutional appetite propelled Bitcoin above US$75,000, lifting the entire market. From my perspective, this trend validates a structural shift we have anticipated for years. Regulated access points, such as ETFs, are not merely convenience products. They represent a critical bridge between traditional finance and decentralised networks, enabling capital allocation that respects both compliance and innovation.

Ethereum’s 10 per cent surge amplified the broader rally, fuelled by its own ETF inflows and strong Layer-1 ecosystem performance. Net inflows to US spot ether ETFs exceeded US$160M last week, signalling growing institutional confidence in Ethereum’s utility beyond speculation. The Layer-1 sector rose 3.93 per cent, while meme tokens like PEPE saw double-digit gains, indicating a broad-based risk appetite. This rotation from Bitcoin to higher-beta assets reflects a healthy bull market phase in which capital seeks asymmetric opportunities. I view this dynamic as evidence that the market is maturing. Investors are no longer treating crypto as a monolithic bet. They are differentiating between store-of-value narratives, smart contract platforms, and speculative tokens, allocating capital with increasing sophistication.

Data from CoinShares shows crypto investment products attracted US$1.06B last week, with Bitcoin ETFs accounting for US$793M for a third consecutive week. This consistency matters. Persistent demand reduces sell-side pressure and builds a firmer price floor, allowing technical structures to develop with greater reliability. Bitcoin remains the primary price-setter for the asset class. When it holds above key levels such as US$75,000, it provides psychological and mechanical support for altcoins. The near-term outlook hinges on this dynamic. If Bitcoin maintains its breakout and ETF inflows persist, the rally could extend toward the US$2.81T total market cap level. A break below US$72,300 support would signal consolidation, but the underlying institutional bid appears strong enough to absorb moderate profit-taking.

Technical traders watch the US$76,000 to US$78,000 zone as key resistance for Bitcoin. A clean break above this range would confirm bullish momentum and likely trigger algorithmic buying. Conversely, the ETH/BTC pair offers insight into altcoin sentiment. Continued strength here would confirm that risk appetite is broadening beyond Bitcoin. I monitor these relationships closely because they reveal whether momentum is sustainable or merely speculative froth. The upcoming Federal Reserve policy meeting on March 18- 19 serves as the key macro trigger. Any hawkish surprise could test the resilience of this rally, but the growing independence of crypto markets from traditional rate sensitivity may provide a buffer. We have seen this decoupling begin in prior cycles, and the current ETF-driven demand could accelerate that trend.

Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum rally while S&P 500 plummets: Is crypto finally decoupling from traditional markets?

Broader economic data also warrants attention. US Pending Home Sales are expected to decline 1.2 per cent, reflecting the ongoing impact of elevated borrowing costs on the real estate market. This softness in housing could reinforce the Fed’s caution, yet markets appear to be looking through near-term data toward a second-half easing narrative. The critical question for the week is whether ETF inflows can overpower any hawkish sentiment from the Federal Reserve. If institutional capital continues to flow into regulated Bitcoin and ether products at current rates, the rally has room to extend. If not, we could see a pause as traders reassess risk through the end of the quarter.

This moment in markets reflects a broader evolution in how capital perceives digital assets. No longer fringe instruments, cryptocurrencies now function as macro-sensitive, institutionally accessible vehicles that respond to liquidity expectations, geopolitical risk, and technological adoption curves. The 53 per cent correlation with the S&P 500 is not a bug. It is a feature of an asset class integrating into the global financial system. I believe this integration will accelerate, driven by demand for transparent, programmable, and borderless financial infrastructure. The current rally, anchored by ETF flows and supported by improving technical structure, represents more than a short-term bounce. It signals a structural re-rating of crypto within multi-asset portfolios.

Looking ahead, the path for markets depends on three factors.

• First, whether Bitcoin can hold above US$75,000 to maintain bullish momentum.
• Second, whether the Federal Reserve signals a patient approach to policy, allowing risk assets to consolidate gains.
• Third, whether geopolitical tensions in the Middle East remain contained, preventing a renewed surge in energy prices.

The convergence of these variables will determine if the relief rally evolves into a sustained advance. For now, the tape suggests optimism. Institutional capital is committed, technical levels are holding, and the macro backdrop, while uncertain, is not deteriorating. In this environment, disciplined exposure to high-conviction themes like AI infrastructure and institutional crypto adoption offers a rational path forward. The market rewards those who distinguish between noise and signal, and the current data points to a constructive, if volatile, journey ahead.

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As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and enterprise attack surfaces expand, vulnerability management (VM) is under increasing strain, especially in fast-digitising regions like Southeast Asia (SEA).

Hackuity, a France- and Singapore-based cybersecurity startup, is positioning itself at the forefront of this shift with its take on risk-based vulnerability management (RBVM). Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Pierre Samson argues that the real challenge today is no longer detecting vulnerabilities, but knowing which ones actually matter.

Also Read: ‘Cybersecurity must move at the speed of AI development’: ArmourZero CEO

In this interview, Samson shares how Hackuity’s platform moves beyond traditional common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) to deliver context-driven prioritisation through its proprietary true risk score (TRS). He also discusses how operating across Europe and SEA shapes the company’s product, go-to-market strategy, and partnerships, as well as how enterprises can overcome internal resistance to security transformation. From MSSP-led adoption models to the future of continuous threat exposure management, Samson offers a grounded view of how organisations can cut through noise and focus on real risk.

Hackuity is described as “reinventing RBVM.” What key insight or moment made you decide traditional VM needed a full rethink, and how does Hackuity’s approach differ in practice?

The turning point was seeing security teams overwhelmed by data they couldn’t act on. Today’s organisations face over 200,000 common vulnerability exposures (CVEs), run 10-15 scanners, and generate millions of alerts; yet 80 per cent of successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities disclosed years ago. The issue isn’t detection, it’s prioritisation.

Traditional vulnerability management relies heavily on CVSS, which measures intrinsic severity but lacks context. A “critical” score says nothing about exploitability, asset importance, or real-world threat activity. The result is a constant backlog of “critical” issues that paralyses teams.

Hackuity set out to fix this by building a vulnerability operations centre (VOC) platform. Instead of adding another scanner, we aggregate data from existing tools, normalise it, and apply risk-based prioritisation.

The goal is simple: help teams know what to fix first, and why.

Hackuity’s TRS sounds central to your value proposition. How TRS works and reduces triage overload and how customers validate its accuracy within their business context?

TRS is our core prioritisation metric, combining three dimensions into a score from 0 to 1000:

1. Vulnerability score: Based on CVSS, reflecting technical severity
2. Threat score: Measures real-world exploitability using signals like exploit maturity, EPSS, CISA KEV, and threat intelligence
3. Asset score: Accounts for business context—criticality, exposure, protections, and potential blast radius

The model is multiplicative, not additive. A severe vulnerability with no exploit activity scores far lower than one under active attack. This ensures prioritisation reflects real risk, not theoretical severity.

Also Read: Asia’s new cyber threat: AI that speaks your language

In practice, TRS highlights the top 0.1-5 per cent of findings that truly matter. Many customers adopt a simple goal: eliminate all TRS-critical issues. Because “critical” is rare and meaningful, it’s achievable.

Importantly, TRS is fully transparent. Customers can see every input and tune parameters, such as asset criticality, to reflect their environment. This tunability is how organisations validate its accuracy.

You operate outside of Singapore and France—how does being bi-regional influence your product roadmap, go-to-market (GTM) strategy, and talent hiring, especially for serving SEA enterprises?

Being bi-regional is a strength. It exposes us to diverse regulatory and operational realities.

On the product side, European customers prioritise data sovereignty and GDPR compliance, often requiring on-premise deployments. SEA enterprises operate under different frameworks and tend to have more fragmented tool stacks. This pushes us to offer flexible deployment models (SaaS, on-premise, hybrid) and remain vendor-neutral.

GTM strategies also differ. In Europe, we focus on direct enterprise sales and MSSP partnerships. In SEA, a partner-first approach is essential due to market diversity. We established our APAC headquarters in Singapore, earned IMDA certification, and actively engage with the local ecosystem.

From a talent perspective, having teams in both regions ensures we build for real-world workflows, not theoretical models.

RBVM and automation can meet organisational resistance from security, IT ops, and dev teams. How do you drive adoption and change management inside large enterprises?

Resistance is common and usually comes from three groups:

1. Security teams wary of new layers
2. IT ops concerned about workload
3. Leadership seeking visibility

We address this through three principles.

First, we integrate with existing tools — no rip-and-replace. Hackuity connects to over 100 solutions, so teams retain their trusted systems.

Second, we deliver role-specific value. CISOs get board-level insights, analysts get prioritised queues, and IT teams receive enriched tickets via integrations like Jira or ServiceNow.

Third, we prioritise transparency. When users question scoring differences, we show them exactly how TRS works and allow tuning. This often converts scepticism into trust.

A common outcome: after running Hackuity alongside existing processes, teams realise a large portion of their effort was spent on low-risk issues. That insight changes internal priorities quickly.

Hackuity integrates with many third-party tools and data sources. How do you balance prioritising new connectors vs deeper integrations (e.g., remediation orchestration), and what integration has delivered the biggest ROI so far?

Coverage comes first. Enterprises often run dozens of tools, so a platform must integrate broadly to be useful. We maintain all connectors ourselves to ensure reliability.

Also Read: When security fails, trust breaks: Why cybersecurity is now a business priority

At the same time, we are investing in deeper integrations, particularly around remediation orchestration. This includes enriched ticketing, SLA tracking, and feedback loops that automatically update exposure status.

The highest ROI consistently comes from ITSM integrations like ServiceNow and Jira. These turn vulnerability data into actionable tasks, accelerating remediation without manual triage.

For SEA firms that are often resource-constrained, what pricing/packaging, onboarding, or managed-service models have you found most effective to accelerate adoption?

The challenge in SEA is clear: smaller teams facing the same volume of vulnerabilities. The solution is not simplification, but faster time-to-value.

Effective models include:

• SaaS deployment for quick onboarding with minimal infrastructure
• MSSP-led services, where partners provide operational capacity using Hackuity
• Our pricing is asset-based and scalable, allowing organisations to start small and expand over time.

Onboarding focuses on rapid proof-of-value. By connecting a few scanners in the first week, teams can immediately see how TRS reshapes their risk landscape. This drives internal buy-in.

For MSSPs, our multi-tenant platform enables centralised management of multiple clients, making it ideal for scaling across the region.

 The vulnerability landscape is evolving fast (cloud, IaC, supply chain). How do you foresee vulnerability management changing over the next three to five years, and how is Hackuity preparing for those shifts?

Three trends are shaping the future:

First, the attack surface is expanding rapidly — across cloud, containers, IaC, and AI-generated code. Traditional scanner-centric approaches won’t scale. The future lies in unified risk layers that aggregate and prioritise across all environments.

Second, AI is transforming both attack and defence. Attackers can identify and exploit vulnerabilities faster, while defenders can move toward predictive risk management. Hackuity is investing in this through initiatives like VulnHubIntel, a privacy-preserving intelligence hub that enables cross-organisation insights using techniques like federated learning.

Third, continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) is becoming the standard. Organisations are shifting from periodic scans to continuous monitoring. Hackuity’s VOC model — always-on aggregation, scoring, and prioritisation — is designed for this shift.

Security startups sometimes face trust and credibility barriers. How do you build trust with prospects and customers (e.g., audits, certifications, references), and what’s been the most effective signal?

Trust comes from evidence.

Also Read: ArmourZero raises strategic capital to scale automated vulnerability management across Asia

We demonstrate this through certifications such as SOC 2 Type II and IMDA accreditation, as well as GDPR compliance. We’ve also gained industry recognition, including Forrester’s UVM landscape and multiple awards.

However, our strongest differentiator is transparency. TRS is fully explainable; customers can inspect every input and challenge every output. This contrasts with opaque “black-box” approaches in the market.

Ultimately, the most effective trust signal is a live proof-of-concept. When customers see TRS applied to their own data and recognise its accuracy, that’s when trust is established.

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Singapore’s stablecoin payments race just got a fresh injection of fuel.

dtcpay, a regulated digital payments firm headquartered in Singapore, has raised US$10 million in a Series A round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India.

The timing matters: stablecoins have moved from crypto-adjacent curiosity to a serious payments rail, but regulators are now demanding grown-up compliance, not growth hacks.

Also Read: How stablecoins are quietly reinventing the global dollar system

So what does dtcpay do, in plain English?

dtcpay sits between stablecoins (digital dollars that aim to hold a steady value) and the traditional money system. In simple terms, it lets businesses and individuals pay and get paid in stablecoins, while also converting between stablecoins and regular currencies quickly so transactions can settle in real-world contexts (think invoices, payroll, and cross-border transfers rather than speculative trading).

A key selling point is its real-time swap and settlement: the company says it can move between stablecoin and fiat flows instantly, which is the entire point of stablecoins as payments infrastructure — speed and certainty, especially across borders and outside banking hours.

Why this deal matters for dtcpay and for Singapore

For dtcpay, the funding is a vote of confidence that its compliance-heavy approach can scale. The company has been collecting licences rather than slogans, and it now claims a meaningful regulatory footprint: a Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, plus licences and registrations across markets including Hong Kong, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

Most notably, it has secured an Electronic Money Institution licence in Luxembourg, a gateway to operating regulated payment services across the European Economic Area.

That Luxembourg move turns the round from “another fintech raises money” into something sharper: a Southeast Asia-born stablecoin payments company attempting to build a regulated corridor into Europe. In this market, compliance expectations are high, and penalties for getting it wrong are real.

Also Read: How SMEs are using stablecoins to beat currency swings

Singapore’s angle is broader. The city-state has spent years marketing itself as a credible digital asset hub, but credibility is tested when products hit the messy world of payments: refunds, chargebacks, sanctions screening, fraud, consumer protection, and bank partnerships.

A locally headquartered player raising a Series A to expand regulated stablecoin payments sends a signal that Singapore’s next phase is less about exchanges and more about financial plumbing.

dtcpay also says it has partnered with Visa, offering Visa Infinite cards and corporate card programmes that settle across digital and fiat currencies. Card rails remain where most real-world spending happens; bridging stablecoin balances to card acceptance is one practical route to mainstream usage—if pricing, compliance, and user experience hold up at scale.

CEO and co-founder Alice Liu framed the bet as operational, not ideological: “faster, safer, and more cost-efficient transactions” built on what she called a compliance-first foundation.

Stablecoins in Singapore: growing up, getting regulated, attracting players

Singapore’s stablecoin scene is expanding, but it’s doing so under a watchful regulator. MAS set out a framework for single-currency stablecoins issued in Singapore—designed to impose requirements around reserve backing, redemption, disclosures, and audits.

Translation: regulators are trying to separate stablecoins that can behave like money from tokens that only behave like marketing.

There are already notable players in and around Singapore:

• StraitsX, associated with XSGD and infrastructure for tokenised payments use cases
• Paxos, which has pursued regulated stablecoin issuance and infrastructure in Singapore
• Circle, which has been building regional operations and partnerships tied to USDC
• Major exchanges and wallets with Singapore footprints that support stablecoin flows, even if they are not “payments companies” in the strict sense

Globally, stablecoins have become one of crypto’s largest “real usage” categories by value, with market capitalisation in the hundreds of billions of US dollars in recent years and transaction volumes that can reach trillions of US dollars over short periods depending on measurement method. Singapore is positioning itself as a regulated hub within that global flow, particularly for cross-border B2B payments, treasury operations, and settlement.

Why stablecoin-based payments are becoming vital, and where it’s heading

Stablecoins are gaining traction because they address long-standing payments pain points:

• Cross-border friction: Moving money internationally can be slow, opaque, and fee-heavy
• Settlement speed: Stablecoin transfers can settle 24/7, not just on bank schedules
• Programmability: Funds can be tied to conditions (escrow, automated release, on-chain reconciliation)
• Interoperability: Stablecoins can move across platforms more easily than closed-loop bank systems

The trend line is also clear: stablecoins are being pulled into the mainstream by regulation and institutions, not by memes. The next phase is likely to look less like consumers “paying with crypto” and more like stablecoins quietly powering the back end—merchant settlement, global payroll, supplier payments, and treasury management—while users keep tapping cards and bank apps on the front end.

Also Read: How stablecoins are disrupting traditional financial systems

That, in turn, raises the bar for companies like dtcpay. Winning won’t be about who shouts “mass adoption” loudest; it will hinge on licensing, liquidity, risk controls, bank relationships, and distribution. Vertex’s Genping Liu argued dtcpay is positioned for that shift, pointing to “real-world use” where stablecoin utility meets regulated finance.

The stablecoin payments story in Singapore is no longer a speculative sideshow. It’s turning into an infrastructure contest—one where the winners will look a lot like boring payments companies, except the rails underneath are new.

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In a world where billions of young people still lack access to quality, relevant education, Solve Education is positioning itself as a different kind of edutech startup. Rather than relying solely on digital platforms, the organisation has built a model that combines technology with grassroots community engagement — a hybrid approach that reflects the realities of underserved markets.

Founded to address persistent gaps in global education, Solve Education operates across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India, and Nigeria. Its focus is clear: reach learners aged 13 to 25, as well as older individuals seeking to upskill, particularly in communities where traditional systems struggle to deliver.

“We saw that traditional educational solutions can be too slow, costly, and rigid to scale effectively,” said Talitha Amalia, Co-Founder and COO of Solve Education, in an interview with e27.

At the core of Solve Education’s model is a framework known as GAIN — Gamification, AI Coach, Incentive, and Network. This structure reflects the company’s belief that technology alone is not sufficient to solve education inequality.

Gamification forms the first pillar. Learning, according to Talitha, must move beyond lecture-based formats to become interactive and engaging. By incorporating game-like elements, Solve Education aims to sustain attention and encourage participation among young learners.

Also Read: The future of work is here: The role of edutech in an AI-ready workforce

The second pillar, AI Coach, reflects the startup’s view that technology should deliver hard skills. This allows human educators to focus on areas that machines cannot replicate, such as character development and social-emotional learning. In many underserved areas, teachers are overstretched, making this division of labour particularly relevant.

Incentives make up the third component. Recognising that younger learners often lack intrinsic motivation, Solve Education introduces extrinsic motivators such as internet vouchers and access to expert-led webinars. The goal is to gradually foster a deeper, self-driven interest in learning.

The final pillar, Network, is where Solve Education distinguishes itself most clearly from conventional edutech players. Rather than treating users as passive participants, the company actively builds learning communities — and at the centre of this effort is its Youth Ambassador Programme.

The programme began organically, driven by early users who were inspired to bring Solve Education’s platform into their own communities. These individuals, often based in rural or underserved areas, acted as informal champions, introducing peers to the platform and organising local activities.

“We didn’t start by opening branches,” Talitha explained. “It was always a grassroots movement first.”

Recognising the potential of this approach, Solve Education formalised the initiative into a structured programme designed to both retain existing ambassadors and recruit new ones. Today, Youth Ambassadors play a critical role in user acquisition, helping the organisation scale through trust-based, community-led outreach rather than traditional marketing channels.

This strategy has proven particularly effective in regions where digital adoption is uneven and social networks remain central to information sharing. In countries such as Nigeria and Malaysia, Solve Education’s presence has grown largely through youth-led initiatives rather than top-down expansion.

Also Read: The future of edutech: Personalising learning for all

Complementing this is the startup’s “Solve for Change” initiative, which provides small grants to learners with community-driven ideas. These projects range from local entrepreneurship efforts to social impact initiatives, reinforcing the connection between learning and real-world application.

Beyond its ambassador network, Solve Education also works closely with local governments, grassroots organisations, and technology partners. Its platform is designed to function in low-resource environments, requiring minimal storage and bandwidth — a crucial feature for users in areas with limited digital infrastructure.

Accessibility is another priority. The platform includes features for users with disabilities, who were involved in both design and implementation. “They are very creative and have a lot of ideas,” Talitha said, noting that lack of support often limits their opportunities.

Ultimately, Solve Education’s approach reflects a broader shift in edutech thinking. By combining high-tech solutions with high-touch community engagement, the startup is challenging the notion that digital platforms alone can address systemic educational gaps.

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Image Credit: Solve Education

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The startup ocean never stops moving. Over the past months, I’ve faced waves I never expected, detours I didn’t plan for, and storms I had no map for. And yet, in that constant motion, I’ve learned more about people, business, and myself than any corporate roadmap could have taught me.

On this cruise, the only clear line is ambiguity. For proactive people and natural go-getters, that line is something to cross, not something to wait around. They step in, figure things out, and get things done, even when it’s not written in their job title or spelt out in a JD. They act first, then adjust.

In this environment, it becomes immediately obvious who the self-starters are and who is quietly waiting for shore. A shore that promises stability, certainty, and calm. A place where systems are already built, expectations are predictable, and the ground doesn’t shift beneath your feet.

But cruising means choosing motion over comfort.

Every day brings real waves — actual ups and downs, operational changes, and emotional swings. Every change in wind has the potential to alter the course, and every shift comes with unknown consequences. If corporate life feels like running a business on land, startup life is spent almost entirely at sea. The depth and width of the uncharted territory are impossible to measure. For some, that uncertainty is exhilarating. For many others, it is deeply unsettling.

Only those who can live with constant change and the very real possibility of drowning choose to stay on board.

Learning not to drown

In this kind of cruising, resilience isn’t optional. It becomes a survival skill.

I can’t count how many nights I shed tears — from misunderstandings, sustained pressure, the feeling of lacking support, and the loneliness of holding things together on a shaking boat while others were celebrating on shore, champagne in hand. Those moments were not dramatic; they were quiet, heavy, and exhausting.

Also Read: Cruising the startup ocean: When change becomes the current

One moment that stays with me clearly was New Year’s Eve at a port of call. A night meant for celebration with friends and family, but instead, I was checking in strangers, coordinating teams, and trying to create a meaningful journey for others. By the end of the night, I had completely lost my voice, worn down by fatigue, stress, and emotional depletion.

In that moment, I was drowned.

And yet, the next morning, when the sun rose, the ship still needed to move. The work continued. Problems didn’t pause for recovery, and responsibility didn’t wait for emotions to settle.

What I’ve come to realise is that tears don’t cancel out resilience. Resilience is not about staying unbroken; it’s about getting back on your feet when you are. The phrase “what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” only truly made sense after I recovered — not just from losing my voice, but from the self-criticism and perfectionism that had quietly accumulated alongside it.

Resilience is what brings us back. Agility is what helps us move faster. “Yes, and” keeps us progressing when plans fall apart. And internal recognition — understanding why we are doing what we do — is what keeps us steady when the noise gets loud.

Also Read: Cruising the startup ocean: Building without a playbook

Holding onto an inner anchor

Out in the open ocean, the only thing we can reliably hold onto is an inner anchor.

That anchor is built on trusting the value of the work, and the value that work brings back to you. Startup life is not polished. It is rarely smooth, and it is far from the predictability of corporate experiences. But it offers something different: the toughness of the ocean, the rush of wind from every direction when you stand on deck, and the freedom of steering toward a direction you actively help shape.

You are not following a perfect map. You are learning how to read the waves, adjust the sails, and keep moving even when visibility is low.

Deep in the startup ocean, there is no perfect map and no guaranteed smooth sailing. But with the right mindset, the right crew, and the courage to stay in motion, every wave becomes a lesson.

The horizon may never be fixed, but learning to sail toward it is what turns uncertainty into direction.

This article is part of Cruising the Startup Ocean, a series exploring the real challenges of building in fast-moving startup environments.

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When a delivery robot wheels into a lift lobby, calls an elevator, clears access control, and rides up to the correct floor without human intervention, most bystanders see a novelty. Alan Ng sees an infrastructure problem that has barely begun to be solved.

Ng is the founder and chief executive of QuikBot Technologies, a Singapore-based robotics and AI company that aims to do for autonomous machines what TCP/IP did for computers: give them a common language to operate safely in a world that was never designed for them.

“Robots are beginning to move through our cities, but our infrastructure was built for humans,” Ng said. “The Ambient Permission Plane allows robots, buildings, and digital systems to interact safely in the real world. It is the trust infrastructure required for the Physical AI era.”

That framing — trust infrastructure — sits at the centre of everything QuikBot Technologies builds. The company’s flagship orchestration system, QuikSync, allows autonomous machines to coordinate in real time with elevators, access control systems, and building management platforms.

The result is what the company calls the Autonomous Final-Mile Delivery Platform-as-a-Service, or AFMDPaaS: a managed layer that enables robots to perform secure, floor-to-floor deliveries across smart buildings and urban districts without requiring bespoke integration at every site.

Also Read: The new growth metric: AI Share of Voice

The practical applications are already in motion. QuikBot Technologies is operating commercially in Singapore and has expanded internationally, with deployments in Dubai supporting autonomous delivery services alongside FedEx, DHL Express, UPS, and Aramex. For those logistics giants, the value proposition is straightforward: the ability to extend last-mile delivery into the interior of dense, multi-storey buildings without adding headcount.

For QuikBot Technologies, the ambition extends further. The company positions itself not as a robotics hardware maker but as the connective tissue between the physical world and the growing ecosystem of autonomous systems — what the industry is beginning to call Physical AI. As robotics platforms proliferate across offices, hospitals, campuses and logistics hubs, the absence of a shared trust and permissions layer becomes a structural bottleneck. QuikSync is QuikBot’s answer to that gap.

The company’s approach has drawn recognition beyond its immediate commercial traction. Earlier this month, QuikBot Technologies was named Southeast Asia Startup of the Year at the Global Startup Awards, earning a place in the Global Grand Finale scheduled for May 7–8 in Valletta, Malta, alongside the EU-Startups Summit.

Also Read: Half of APAC consumers are tired of poor-quality AI content from brands: Report

The award places QuikBot among the region’s most closely watched deep-tech ventures and marks a signal moment for Singapore’s standing in robotics and smart city innovation.

“This recognition highlights Singapore’s growing leadership in robotics, autonomous delivery, and smart city innovation,” the company said following the announcement.

At the Grand Finale, QuikBot Technologies will compete against regional winners from around the world for the title of Global Startup of the Year. The company is encouraging members of the innovation community to support its bid through a public vote at the Global Startup Awards website.

The timing is not incidental. Singapore’s 2026 national budget has committed more than S$1 billion to AI infrastructure, talent and adoption through to 2030, and a newly established National AI Council is tasked with providing strategic direction for the country’s technological development. QuikBot Technologies sits squarely within that policy context — a homegrown company working on the kind of foundational infrastructure that determines whether Singapore’s smart city ambitions translate into operational reality.

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Image Credit: QuikBot Technologies

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Singapore’s cybersecurity conversation tends to orbit cloud breaches, phishing links and ransomware gangs. But new figures suggest an older, less glamorous attack route is quietly regaining ground: malware that rides in on USB drives and other removable media.

Kaspersky said it detected and blocked 3,888,967 on-device threats on computers in Singapore in 2025, a 16.2 per cent jump from 2024. The company’s telemetry shows that worms and file viruses accounted for most of the detections: the kind of malware designed to spread quickly from one machine to the next, often without requiring a user to click on anything.

Also Read: Singapore’s cybersecurity paradox: Why we must act now

That matters because “on-device” attacks don’t depend on someone being tricked into opening a dodgy link. Once an infected removable device is plugged in, malicious code can run automatically if the system is misconfigured, unpatched, or simply caught by a strain that security tools fail to stop. In workplaces where files still move around via thumb drives — from small businesses to highly controlled environments that restrict internet access — that’s a straightforward way to bypass perimeter defences.

The numbers also challenge an assumption common in hyper-connected markets like Singapore: that offline malware is fading away in a cloud-first world. Instead, the data points to a persistent and growing exposure surface that is easy to overlook precisely because it feels old-school.

Kaspersky’s Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific, argues that everyday habits are part of the problem, particularly the default trust people place in removable media. “Most users rarely second-guess plugging in an external device despite the fact that such on-device infections remain a very real threat,” Hia said.

Also Read: The AI arms race in cybersecurity: Is your startup ready?

The risk isn’t just nuisance infections. A compromised endpoint can become a staging ground for deeper intrusion, especially if it stores sensitive documents, cached credentials or access tokens. In an enterprise setting, a single infected machine can be enough to seed malware across shared drives, spread laterally within networks, or quietly exfiltrate data.

For startups and SMEs, a major slice of Southeast Asia’s digital economy, the damage can land fast: disrupted operations, incident response bills, and the reputational hit that follows any disclosure.

There is, however, a key caveat: these figures reflect what Kaspersky customers’ devices in Singapore detected and blocked, not a full census of the country’s computers. Vendor telemetry is useful for trendlines, but it is not a neutral, universal measurement — changes in customer base, detection engines, or reporting can influence year-on-year shifts. Even so, nearly 3.9 million blocked threats is a reminder that endpoint security is still doing heavy lifting, and that removable media remains an active delivery channel.

So what should organisations take away from this?

First, treat USB-borne malware as a current threat, not a museum exhibit. “Air-gapped” or restricted networks are not automatically safer if people regularly shuttle files between machines.

Second, basic hygiene still pays: keep systems patched, restrict autorun behaviours, and lock down administrative privileges so a single infection cannot rewrite the whole machine.

Third, have a recovery plan that works under pressure — particularly offline or isolated backups that cannot be tampered with by an infected endpoint.

For individuals, the guidance is even simpler: be sceptical about unknown drives, avoid installing software from untrusted sources, and update devices promptly. The most sophisticated security strategy can still be undone by a single “found” USB plugged in out of curiosity.

Also Read: Hackers using AI to mask identity behind cyber attacks, researchers say

Singapore’s digital economy is moving fast, but the tools people use to move data around often lag behind. The latest spike in on-device detections suggests attackers have noticed — and they’re happy to win the old-fashioned way.

The post Singapore’s malware spike reveals an overlooked cyber risk: USB drives appeared first on e27.

At Echelon Philippines 2025, a panel on impact-driven entrepreneurship brought together Enzo Pinga of Humble Sustainability, Priya Tachadi of Viligro Philippines, Frederic Levy of Lhoopa, and Marc Concio of KITA Agritech, moderated by Carlo Chen Delantar of Gobi Partners.

The discussion centred on balancing social mission with commercial discipline. Panellists were emphatic that purpose alone is insufficient: “Before you are an impact company, you are a company. Not an NGO. So you have to think as a company,” with one noting that “a successful company is one that solves a problem.”

Pricing emerged as a recurring challenge, particularly for startups serving low-income customers who need affordable solutions without compromising business viability.

The post Echelon Philippines 2025 – Purpose in a growth strategy: Why impact-driven startups win in the long run appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based Virdalis has closed a US$700,000 pre-seed round led by Wavemaker Impact, as the biotech startup develops a feed-grade protein ingredient made from Wolffia globosa, a tiny plant better known as duckweed.

The pitch is blunt: most countries are still buying a critical food-system input from a small club of producer nations, and that concentration is a vulnerability.

Also Read: Asia’s biotech boom: Innovation, investment, and a new era of discovery

The company is going after a market it values at more than US$500 billion a year for global animal feed, with protein ingredients alone worth about US$300 billion.

But the bigger claim isn’t market size; it’s sovereignty. Feed protein is shipped across oceans, priced through volatile commodity markets, and exposed to geopolitical shocks. For Southeast Asia, where aquaculture and livestock supply chains are central to food security, that dependence is not theoretical.

Virdalis argues there hasn’t been a realistic way for most countries to produce feed protein domestically at scale without vast farmland and the right climate. Duckweed, it says, changes the constraints.

Why duckweed, why now?

Duckweed is not new to science, but Virdalis is betting it can be industrialised into a repeatable, scalable ingredient. The plant is tiny, grows fast, and can be cultivated without traditional arable land. Virdalis says Wolffia globosa can double biomass within 24-48 hours and reach 40-45 per cent protein by dry weight.

That growth rate matters because feed manufacturers don’t buy novelty; they buy volume, consistency, and cost curves. If a production system can run year-round and avoid the land-and-water footprint of conventional crops, it potentially turns feed protein from an import into something closer to local manufacturing.

Wavemaker Impact is leaning into that geopolitical angle as much as the climate story. Quentin Vaquette, the venture builder’s founding partner, said the appeal is that duckweed could be produced locally in places that currently have no realistic path to domestic feed-protein supply.

“What’s truly transformative is the geopolitical dimension: this is a protein source that any country can produce domestically, turning feed security from a trade dependency into a sovereign capability,” Vaquette said.

He added that duckweed-based systems could produce comparable protein with as little as 10 per cent of the emissions of conventional methods.

“Built by operators” — and aimed at Southeast Asia

Virdalis was founded by James Aujero, previously an executive at Philippine fintech GCash. While headquartered in Singapore, the firm operates in the Philippines, positioning itself close to regional aquaculture and livestock markets where feed costs and supply shocks ripple quickly into consumer prices.

Aujero framed the company’s ambition as reducing dependence on a few exporting countries rather than replacing any single crop.
“Wolffia is the first protein source that frees nations from that dependency — it can be produced anywhere, at speed,” he said.

The startup says it is building proprietary cultivation and processing systems, plus a data-driven operating platform — language that signals an attempt to run biology like an engineered production stack, not a slow academic programme.

What happens next

With pre-seed funding in place, Virdalis says it is scaling pilot production, hiring technical talent, and pursuing initial commercial agreements with feed manufacturers across Southeast Asia.

For Wavemaker Impact, whose debut fund is US$60 million, the deal fits a familiar pattern: back early-stage climate-tech infrastructure plays with large industrial end-markets. For Virdalis, the hard part starts now: proving that duckweed protein can meet feed-industry requirements on unit economics, safety, consistency, and supply reliability, not just biology.

Also Read: ‘Meat’ing the needs of the alternative protein space in Singapore

If it works, the upside isn’t only a new ingredient. It’s a reconfiguration of where feed protein can be produced, and who gets to control it.

The post Virdalis secures US$700K to scale duckweed protein for animal feed appeared first on e27.

Take a look around. The market isn’t just saturated; it’s drowning in sameness. Every industry, from enterprise software to artisanal coffee, is littered with products that are essentially identical twins, separated at birth by a slightly different colour scheme or a few extra lines of code. We are in the age of the incremental tweak, where a “new” idea often means little more than a slightly better user interface bolted onto a century-old business model.

This is the great deception: too many founders believe their competitive edge lies in what, the product’s feature set or the concept’s novelty. They fret over the perfect launch campaign, when their real problem is that their core operation is entirely generic.

Let me be blunt: Your idea isn’t special. And if it is, it won’t be for long. The speed of imitation in the modern economy is frighteningly fast. The true, lasting competitive advantage is never found in the visible, front-end shine. It resides exclusively in the invisible, proprietary architecture you build beneath the surface. It’s in the data, the hidden processes, and the relentless, glorious tedium of your systems.

The database is the new moat

When I examine a business claiming an “edge,” the first thing I disregard is the demo. The second is the financial projection. I go straight to the back end. I ask: What is your proprietary data asset, and what are you collecting?

In a world where algorithms rule, the only true fortress is a data moat. If the insights you use to improve your service can be replicated by a competitor purchasing standard industry reports, you have no advantage whatsoever. You are playing on a borrowed field.

Also Read: Why access to ecosystems is tech’s true equality problem

The companies that win aren’t those with the prettiest dashboard; they are the ones who collect unique, unreplicable behavioral data from their users and feed it back into their product cycle. This creates a virtuous, self-reinforcing loop. Every customer interaction, every tiny click, every point of friction becomes a data point that makes your service microscopically better for the next customer. This aggregated knowledge, this collective history of user behaviour, is the only thing your competitor cannot copy. They can build your app, but they can’t download your years of refined, proprietary user history. That data, that deep, unique fingerprint, is the only sustainable edge you can actually own.

The unromantic discipline of systems

This brings us back to the non-negotiable truth: the edge is built, not conceived. It is forged in the systems and processesthat govern every transaction, every customer support query, and every product iteration.

Most startups are driven by heroic effort. A charismatic founder or an exhausted sales team pulls off miracle after miracle. This is the surest sign of a fatal, underlying flaw: a lack of robust systems. Heroic effort is not scalable; it is a temporary patch on broken processes. It leads to burnout, inconsistency, and chaos the moment the volume spikes.

Also Read: AI is not about automation. It’s about when systems are allowed to learn.

A genuine competitive edge must be built on processes that are so meticulously documented, so consistently executed, and so flawlessly automated that they become invisible. This is the operational fortress. It’s the difference between a competitor who responds to a customer complaint in twelve chaotic, individual steps, and your company, which resolves it in two automated steps and one human verification, logging the feedback into the product roadmap all the while. This efficiency translates directly into lower cost, higher retention, and greater speed.

Your product might get you a meeting, but your systems are what win the war. They allow you to scale without self-destructing. They allow you to maintain quality control when growth hits hyper speed.

So, the next time you are convinced that your company’s salvation lies in a new feature or a marketing gimmick, stop. Take a hard look at the unglamorous underbelly of your business. Are you building a proprietary data engine, or just polishing the chassis?

If your competitive advantage disappeared tomorrow, what essential, internal asset do you own that would still force your competitors to struggle just to keep up?

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The post Your idea is dead on arrival: The hidden systems that determine your fate appeared first on e27.