Recently in the news for starting Launcho Ventures, DTribe Capital has pioneered the venture studio model in Southeast Asia.

DTribe seeks to fund, build, and scale successful companies across the region by identifying and transforming ideas with viable business cases into independent companies through collaboration with entrepreneurs and skilled professionals.

A successful serial entrepreneur, Launcho founding partner Martin Berry has built and sold companies with values in excess of US$600 million and has gone on to make over 50 venture investments in early stage technology companies to date.

He is also the founder and CEO of DTribe Capital, a Singapore-based, opportunity-focused VC firm empowering founders seeking to enhance people’s lives and create positive economic impact through technology.

Berry founded Gong Cha Korea in 2012, acquired its parent company Royal Tea Taiwan in 2016, and went on to scale the Gong Cha brand globally to 18 countries and 2,000 outlets worldwide.

Over the last 20 years, he has built, acquired and exited several companies and served as a board member for many financial and technology companies.

In our latest Meet the VC webinar, we spoke to Berry to understand this venture studio model better and the opportunities for startups in 2021.

Key takeaways

• Started a career in technology and fell in love with it. Worked in the banking sector at the onset of internet banking
• His long journey in the corporate world made the various gaps evident to him and his startup journey started as a side hustle in tech companies
• The GFC ultimately made him take the plunge to become an entrepreneur
• Gong Cha grabbed his attention although he never really understood the Asian love for tea. He literally would sit outside the store and study the audience and reverse engineer the economics

Also Read: Expansion and exposure: iGlobe talks about the traits necessary to succeed in local markets

•  He decided to franchise it to the South Korean market, a market Berry knew well. And went from zero to 400 stores in three years and became the fastest-growing beverage brand in the country.
• Eventually, with some PE support, he bought the Gong Cha brand. And sold it last year whilst retaining a majority stake
• He has so far invested in 16 tech-first companies to help the next generation of founders and that’s how DTribe Capital came into being. It invests in early-stage tech companies
• SEA has a growing population and disposable income and nascent technology but Berry feels the ecosystem to support the founders is still not where it’s supposed to be
• Hence he chose to go the venture studio route where he is working with first-time founders who have an idea but need help with other elements of running an organisation — hiring, management, financials, etc.
• Launcho Ventures is not a time-bound programme such as accelerators. It is actually milestone-driven
• Berry spoke to many founders and realised that finding a co-founder and fundraising were major pain points that averted founder attention from actually building a business
• DTribe not only provides support but also gives founders SG$300,000 to get started
• DTribe has no LPs, so they are not constrained by investment mandates. This allows it to be very open-minded
• The quality of the idea and the founder’s passion majorly drive Berry’s investment decision
• Often times, people are in love with the idea of being an entrepreneur and they are surrounded by family and friends who support it, but there is hardly anyone who can give them candid feedback that an entrepreneur needs to pivot, move and groom.

Advice for founders

• Founders should rigorously be disciplined to keep looking for their strong value proposition, study their audience, consumer choices to succeed
• Be very research-driven and consumer-centric. Build something that customers want and need. Everything will follow, the revenue, funding etc.

Also Read:Why Kay Mok Ku of Gobi Partners thinks VCs will become like influencers in a post-pandemic world

For the next year

• For 2021, VCs are keeping a lot of dry powder and this will continue as everyone is more careful about spending
• The key emphasis is going to be quality over quantity
• Helping retail to go from offline to online will be a big opportunity
• F&B is still far behind and the pandemic brought that to life. So startups that will help traditional businesses be more digitally enabled will be rewarded.
• Besides, health tech, AI for health, etc. will be undoubtedly be shining

Resources

Check out the full video recording and learn more about Berry’s thoughts on 2021 here:

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In Australia, the summer of 2020 saw China allegedly perform a calculated attack on primary Australian government resources. In response to this unprecedented provocation, the Australian prime minister does not send fighter jets.

No bombs or missiles are launched. The people called to arms are not trained in hand-to-hand combat, but every one of them can tilt the balance in historic, decades-long conflicts: Hackers.

It is no secret that in the 21st century, cyber threats are often as dangerous as bombs. A well-planned attack could shut down a city and cause massive financial losses, injuries, and even deaths. In the APAC region, digital threats reveal increasing diplomatic destabilisation.

Only several months ago, violent incidents on the Ladakh region border between China and India reportedly led to Chinese DDoS attacks on Indian sites. Similar incidents allegedly occurred in disputes between India and Nepal, North Korea, and Pakistan. Cyber violence could be the result of armed conflict, or it could very well lead to one.

In the next years, we will see them playing a crucial part in conflicts already in place, as well as future points of friction. But why, exactly, did cyberattacks become such a go-to modus operandi for countries and nations in recent years?

Both the best option and the last resort

“Cyber activity offers governments unique advantages over traditional warfare,” says Evan Davidson, VP of Asia Pacific Japan at SentinelOne. “From a contemporary point of view, the digital front is far superior to the historic battlefields of the 20th century. Using cyber-based reconnaissance, governments can collect valuable information faster, from the safety of their own country.

The lives of their agents are in far less of a risk, too. The possibilities are incredibly varied, from military to trade secrets and intellectual property. China, India, North Korea, and other military superpowers have been employing those methods for years.

What pushed cyber warfare over the edge was how hard traditional intelligence and stealth activities were becoming. There are cameras everywhere these days – nothing you do goes unnoticed. The prevalence of biometric identification and face recognition renders the use of fake identities nearly impossible.

Also Read: Cybersecurity in the age of information warfare and IoT

Consider the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in 2010 –allegedly done by one of the most prestigious covert organisations in the world. The agents were detected almost instantly, with basic security footage and rudimentary police technology.

Ten years later, any teenager with a smartphone could expose international operations with one tap. In that sense, cyberattacks carry a smaller risk for militaries.

The real threat is not military warfare

The number of cyberattacks on governments is steadily growing. In Australia, the number of cybersecurity data breaches and loss incidents rose by 78 per cent from 2017 to 2018 (BDO, 2018). Today, digital war fronts are still a playground for developed, wealthy countries with vast resources and advanced technologies.

Proven statistics from countries such as China, Russia, and North Korea are not available, for obvious reasons, but based on reports, they are well-known for taking on offensive cyber activities as part of their military strategy. This trend is already shifting in the APAC region and worldwide as more countries develop similar abilities.

However, the biggest unpredictable threats are not posed by governments, but by the real underdogs.

Digital attacks are unique in that private entities and organisations can carry them. All you really need is a computer and a network connection. This creates new subsections of threats that are hard to track and prevent. Guerilla groups, semi-formal organisations, or even individual aggressors can now cause real harm to anyone they have a grudge against.

Davidson agrees, adding, “It may be someone with a score to settle or a political or ethnic agenda. However, in most cases, the motives are economical. Countries, companies, and individuals alike work to gain a financial advantage over their enemies or competitors. In the future, we are likely to see a great deal of offensive activity coming not from militaries, but from business and financial entities.”

Also Read: Cybersecurity threats on the rise as companies shift to the WFH model

As the threat from players that are nations or entities working on behalf of nations increase, in parallel to the continued growth of cybercrime activity, new types of risks and attack models are being created. This calls for new types of solutions for cybersecurity since Nation players are often sophisticated enough to understand how to bypass existing solutions and also have the ability to combine cyber means with other more traditional means in a way that can jeopardise an existing array of cybersecurity solutions.

Such new solutions are likely to come from the startups’ ecosystem since they are usually the ones with the flexibility and speed to react fast to new types of threats.

While recently, most of the market for cybersecurity solutions was in the US, it has begun growing in Europe and lately in Asia. Today, Asia is already a ripe market for cybersecurity solutions, and we are witnessing a stream of startups from Israel and other places developing business efforts towards that market.

“Any person or company may be at risk. The good news? This is a risk you can mitigate,” sums up Davidson.  “With sound security infrastructure and air-tight solutions, you can give your assets 360-degree protection against all attack threats.”

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This article is published as a part of a partnership with Future Food Asia. Aqua Development is one of the 11 finalists of the US$100,000 Future Food Asia (FFA) 2020 Award to be hosted from September 21-25.

Asia is home to some of the largest shrimp producers and consumers in the world. Production in Asia is dominated by intensive farms of varying sizes, which produce multiple crops of shrimp every year, with a fair share of them destined to be exported overseas.

In such conditions, food safety, biosecurity, and sustainability concerns are overwhelming, as antibiotics are frequently used to prevent disease outbreaks, and significant waste is produced from frequent water exchange. This is often inevitable, not only due to poor management but also a higher likelihood of contamination and disease outbreaks in intensive conditions.

Enter aquamimicry – a system that mimics and reproduces natural ocean conditions inside the ponds. Aqua Development, based in South Korea, derives its technology from aquamimicry to reproduce the most critical elements of the natural ecosystem inside their farm.

Nature is the world’s best teacher

Co-Founder Othman has derived inspiration from nature, which has for billions of years refined, optimised, and fine-tuned its processes, balances, and systems. Humanity has managed to understand some of them, but many still remain undiscovered or not fully understood. He thus believes that mimicking natural processes and balances is key to achieving great performance in aquaculture.

Classical aquaculture, such as RAS (recirculating aquaculture system), tends to eliminate any organisms and factors aside from the cultured species, placing the emphasis on crop specialisation to gain yield.

This eliminates the symbiotic dynamics between the cultured species and its natural environment, many of which are extremely important yet not fully understood. As a result, RAS often displays unexplained issues such as slow growth, animal fragility, short longevity, and strange smell and flavour.

Also Read: 7 Asian startups putting the spotlight on agriculture

Aqua Development tries to do the opposite by introducing natural factors into their pond ecosystem as possible, with particular attention to the micro-ecosystem. The entire ecosystem ensures that the shrimp stay alive and thrive by improving shrimp health and immunity, thus obviating the need for antibiotics, further chemicals, and additional food source.

This demonstrates a younger school of thought that considers biodiversity to be an asset, which eventually can positively impact yield.

Slowly but surely…

Othman strongly believes that sustainability doesn’t have to be achieved at the cost of high profitability, and vice versa. He hopes to make this statement the new ‘common sense’ within the industry, as Aqua Develop continues to grow and gain traction.

Their announcement as a finalist at Future Food Asia 2020 has recently helped them build a connection with several VCs, other startups, and potential partners within the ecosystem.

Also Read: How can fintech help agriculture

Aqua Development hopes to further grow and expand its technology to drive down the initial setup costs so that small scale farmers in developing nations would be able to afford it. By making their technology more accessible, they can allow for domestic production in countries often reliant on food imports, thus adding resilience to the local supply chain.

Another ambition is to adapt and generalise the system to other species of crustaceans and fish, thus adding sustainability and profitability to a wider farming community. There is a long road ahead, but it’s the thrill of the process that keeps them moving forward.

Their greatest achievement thus far has been seeing their idea transition into a company with its large-scale project – slowly but surely, they’ll get there.

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NTUitive, the innovation and enterprise company of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has launched a new programme called VB18 to help graduates and working professionals explore options in the entrepreneurial space.

The programme will allow Singaporeans to build a business alongside serial entrepreneurs and get paid while doing it.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about disruptive change in many areas, including the job market. In Singapore, job prospects across all sectors have been hit hard. As a result, the conventional job hunting process by fresh graduates is being thrown into disarray, leading them to explore alternative options instead,” the company said in a statement.

VB18 provides a 12-month venture building programme which will be funded by the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, for which 18 fresh graduates will be selected as venture builders.

They will undergo NTUitive’s experiential entrepreneurship education programme and work with and learn from seasoned entrepreneurs to build disruptive, tech-enabled and regionally-focused companies.

NTUitive will be owning a minority stake in the companies. As the programme progresses, it may also inject funds and earn more shares according to the valuation.

Individuals will also learn how to raise funding, leadership, business operations and growth hacking. They will also receive training and advice from experts, along with funding support.

Besides, selected participants, known as “venture builders”, will also receive a monthly stipend of US$1,800 per month.

Also Read: This app makes your SMS inbox organised and intuitive; sends you contextual offers based on the content

The criteria

According to NTUitive Interim CEO Dr Alex Lin, applicants need to depict three qualities to be selected for VB18 which are crucial for success. They are entrepreneurial inclination, resiliency, and tenacity.

“You need to have a certain inclination to be entrepreneurially successful, this is based on the 10-year research that we have done,” he told e27.

“We have worked with the NTU Business School, Psychology and Mathematics Departments to redesign a psychological profile that studies a person’s inclination. That is our number one deciding criteria before we invite them,” he explained.

Although there are no grade requirements, the psychological profiling quiz with 150 questions is mandatory for applicants. Knowledge of a particular subject and experience are bonuses.

He also pointed out that the programme is not looking for “technical entrepreneurs”, as the founders in the programme will be provided with an extensive set of resources such as a commercialisation team and an entire software team that will help them build the product.

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Image Credit: NTUitive

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Malaysia-headqauartered online shopping aggregator iPrice Group has raised an undisclosed amount in funding from JG Digital Equity Ventures (JGDEV), the corporate venture capital arm of Philippines-based JG Summit Holdings.

This is the continuation of the group’s Series B Investment, which was announced in March this year. The round is led by ACA Investments with participation from Daiwa PI Partners, and returning investors LINE Ventures, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

Also Read: Southeast Asian e-commerce group iPrice raises funding from LINE’s corporate VC arm

This financing will allow the group to tap into the Philippines’s large e-commerce market and enhance its current product. 

With the help of JGDEV, iPrice has already secured partnerships with local companies such as RewardsMart in the Robinsons Rewards mobile app and Summit Media’s online domain PEP.ph. It plans to explore more opportunities across the Gokongwei Group of Companies (a VC firm focussed on e-commerce). 

iPrice is a meta-search engine that helps customers find a wide selection of products and brands from hundreds of its partners in Southeast Asia.

“iPrice has a unique approach. It doesn’t aim to compete with other players, but instead, it enables these players to have more channels. As a result, it connects them to more consumers. It enables consumer transactions to be deeper and wider through its comprehensive understanding of the digital economy,” said JGDEV President and CEO Jojo Malolos.

Besides Malaysia, the group also operates in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, and claims to have about 20 million monthly visits across the region. 

While COVID-19 has affected almost all the industries globally, e-commerce has largely been spared and it has shows immense resilience and continues to grow strong.

According to a Google-backed report, Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry is predicted to reach US$180 billion by 2025. With e-commerce’s recent accelerated adoption, the industry is expected to experience an even stronger boost. 

Also Read: Roundup: E-commerce enabler iPrice Group names new CEO

iPrice recently appointed Paul Brown-Kenyon as its new CEO.

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Image Credit: iPrice

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Merchantrade Asia, a home-grown digital money services company and e-money issuer in Malaysia, has fully acquired local fintech player Valyou from Telenor Group, following a competitive bidding exercise.

As per a press statement, Merchantrade has obtained all regulatory approvals for the acquisition.

Following the deal, the businesses, operations and staff force of Valyou will be merged with Merchantrade and operate as a single entity by the end of 2020.

Also Read: Malaysia’s cross-border remittance is going through a renaissance, say fintech experts

It will result in Merchantrade having a combined annual remittance turnover value (based on 2019 figures) of more than RM 11 billion (US$2.7 billion), which includes domestic outbound and international aggregator transactions.

The new entity will have a staff strength of over 1,200 and a network of over 1,700 touch-points and will serve a customer base of over three million.

According to Merchantrade MD Ramasamy K Veeran, the acquisition will also consolidate and significantly bump up Merchantrade’s share of Malaysia’s large migrant-worker customer base which is a major user of the cross-border remittance services.

“To serve the migrant worker segment effectively, we’ve built an ecosystem of relevant financial services through industry partnerships and collaborations. We currently work with AXA and MCIS to offer affordable micro-insurance products. The acquisition of Valyou will further strengthen and expand our digital channel and present us with new opportunities to partner with more financial services provider and set the stage for us to go regional,” he added.

Also Read: How fintech is disrupting the Southeast Asian payments market

Valyou is a player in the e-money and cross-border digital remittance services industry in Malaysia, which is going through a renaissance . It serves a customer base of over one million through its online and app-based digital channels and physical network comprising 22 branches, 20 agents and 1,200 cash-in cash-out (CICO) merchants.

Merchantrade is a money transfer, e-money issuer, wholesale currency services and foreign currency exchange service provider. It operates at 81 retail money services outlets with footprints in major and high-end shopping malls, which offer retail currency, remittance, and on-boarding of Merchantrade Money.

In July, Merchantrade acquired an additional 21 per cent stake in KLIQ, a fully digital cross-border remittance service provider based on Singapore, to increase its stake to 70 per cent.

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Image Credit: Merchantrade Asia

 

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AMTD Digital, the Singapore subsidiary of Hong Kong-based investment baking firm AMTD Group, has secured a S$386 million (US$285 million) in a new financing round.

Key investors include Value Partners, Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments, Vision Knight Capital, Ariana Capital, Maoyan Entertainment, and Infinity Power.

Calvin Choi, Chairman of AMTD Group and AMTD Digital, said: “We have chosen Singapore as our global headquarters to build a one-stop digital solutions platform that connects the ASEAN market with our solid financial services presence in Hong Kong, including a digital bank joint venture with Xiaomi. We are committed to connecting the dots across the many major markets in Asia to create a one-stop digital solutions platform.”

Also Read: AMTD Digital to acquire Singapore’s insurtech startup PolicyPal

“We are not restricting or limiting ourselves to providing financial services, but we are pushing our capabilities and strengths beyond to providing a plethora and diverse range of solutions that include digital connectors and ecosystem building, digital intelligence and data analytics, digital media and marketing,” he added.

Osman Faiz, Chief Information and Operating Officer of AMTD Digital, added: “We embrace new ideas and new value creation for the regional and international scenes. We are committed to nurturing local talent and cultivating innovation both within AMTD and in the wider ecosystem, as we grow across and along the industry.”

AMTD Digital builds a one-stop digital solutions platform that connects different stakeholders in the SpiderNet ecosystem via digital innovations.

Last year, AMTD Digital, together with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, established Airstar Bank and had obtained one of the first eight virtual banking licenses issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

In March, AMTD Digital announced that it would acquire a controlling stake in Singapore-based insurtech startup PolicyPal.

Recently, AMTD Solidarity Fund, backed by AMTD Digital and the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network, invested US$8.5 million in five companies: Funding Societies, Active.ai, Cardup, Transwap, and PolicyPal.

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Image credit: AMTD Digital

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The Panasonic Deep Tech Innovation Challenge has reached its conclusion, with Demo Day successfully being held between 28^th July to 30^th July 2020. Launched in April 2020, Panasonic’s innovation call sought to collect ideas from local businesses to develop technologies and launch new businesses with Panasonic’s smell detection technologies. These technologies are unique in being able to detect smell and visualise the relevance of that to human’s life.

The technologies in the challenge include Panasonic’s Odor Sensing technology ,which have many commercial applications in industries such as healthcare, food manufacturing, industrial safety. Other than that, Panasonic’s Skin Gas Sensing technology also has deep expertise in stress detection by human skin-gas sensing which is relevant in many setting such as in the workplace, schools and homes.

This challenge was rolled out as part of Panasonic’s vision to utilise its technologies to bring impactful solutions to existing social and customer issues. Panasonic hopes to co-create new solutions and potentially launch businesses that can deliver its technology to make a significant difference to existing and new issues.

In collaboration with the Action Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and ICMG to identify suitable partners, the challenge attracted over 32 project proposals in total. 7 finalist teams pitched their business ideas to a jury panel composed of experts from Panasonic Corporation (Japan), Panasonic R&D Centre Singapore and ICMG. The judges were thoroughly impressed by the quality of ideas generated by participants and finalist.

After careful deliberation, two teams were selected as Final Winners for each challenge respectively.  The finalist who presented in Challenge 1 showcased ideas that were applicable in different industries ranging from Hospitality to Supply Chain Logistics where Panasonic will collaborate to co-create and launch new solutions to critical customer issues.

Also Read: Beyond COVID-19: A new era for deep tech startups

The winners

The following are the top two prize-winners for Panasonic Deep Tech Innovation Challenge 2:

Cogniant.co, represented by Neeraj Kothari, is remote patient monitoring platform for chronic health conditions which uses behaviour analytics for outcome based tracking and preventative care. Cogniant.co’s vision for Panasonic’s business opportunity is to co-create measurements of stress through health data.

ELXR, represented by Steffan Fung, offers innovative and personalised solutions that harness the power of sports technology and science including ELXR Personalised Cloud Sports Club and ELXR Sports DNA Test Kit. Their idea includes integrating stress detection into their solution to provide a new angle of evaluation and enhancement of their complete solution.

Panasonic Deep Tech Innovation Challenge has finally reached a close with the conclusion of Demo Day! We would like to thank all participants for your support and contributing with your innovative ideas. Do continue to keep a look out on our social media for exciting new developments and innovation challenges in the future!

Also Read: Develop new solutions and technologies with Panasonic Deep Tech Innovation Challenge

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Lightspeed Venture Partners has announced the launch of its Southeast Asia operations with an office in Singapore.

In the region, the early-stage VC firm will actively engage with ventures in sectors — such as e-commerce, fintech, edutech and SaaS — mainly in Singapore and Indonesia. It will deploy capital from its global funds.

In April this year, Lightspeed raised US$4 billion for is three global funds.

The firm’s Southeast Asia team includes Akshay Bhushan (Partner), Bejul Somaia (Partner), Pinn Lawjindakul (Vice President) and Marsha Sugana ( Senior Investment Associate).

Also Read: The future of Southeast Asia’s big tech in the Next Normal

“Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and startup ecosystems, and this is due in no small part to the region’s extraordinary entrepreneurial talent. We believe the startup ecosystem will continue its significant expansion and are excited to partner with entrepreneurs as they build and scale disruptive companies,” said Bhushan.

In Southeast Asia, Lightspeed has already invested in companies, including Grab, social commerce platform Chilibeli, B2B marketplace app Ula, enterprise AI firm NextBillion.ai, and fulfilment and shipping gateway company Shipper.

Additionally, many of its portfolio companies are scaling up business in Southeast Asia and have regional headquarters in Singapore, including Snap, OYO Rooms, Yellow Messenger and Darwinbox.

“With a large, tech-savvy and young population, Southeast Asia is leading the charge in technology-driven innovation. We have a strong belief in the opportunities here and the capabilities that founders of this region have demonstrated,” said Bejul Somaia, Partner, Lightspeed.

“Our global footprint, combined with the local team’s expertise, will enable the region’s founders to better leverage global opportunities,” added Somaia.

Also Read: 5 survival strategies for startups in a post-COVID-19 world

Since 2000, Lightspeed has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 300 companies globally, including Snap (US), Nutanix (US), Pinduoduo (China), Man Bang group (China), Grab (Asia), OYO Rooms (India), Udaan (India) and Byju’s (India).

More than 70 per cent of its investments have been in firms at early stages, often being the first institutional capital partner.

“Our mission at Lightspeed has stayed the same, even as our global presence has expanded from Silicon Valley, Israel and China to India, Europe and now Southeast Asia: to support the bold entrepreneurs who are building tomorrow’s companies today,” said Mhatre, Founder and Managing Director, Lightspeed.

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Image Credit: Lightspeed Venture Partners

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Hg Exchange (HGX), a private exchange licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has announced its founding members PhillipCapital, PrimePartners and Fundnel have commenced trading private company shares on it.

The exchange enables its members and their clients, comprising both investors and issuers, to gain global liquidity and access opportunities in funds, high-growth companies and other alternative private assets.

Also Read: Fundnel launches private investment marketplace in Malaysia

Through a consortium strategy, HGX automatically unites 500,000 investors online. As per a statement, this will spur a synergistic effect for all parties by increasing deal velocity in a timely, cost-efficient manner and introducing liquidity to the ecosystem.

In addition to this announcement, HGX has also appointed Richard Teng, former Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange, as its Chairman.

“Private capital markets have been steadily gathering momentum in deal volume and the vibrancy in activities surpasses its public counterparts. We are harnessing our strength to further transform the ecosystem by offering the market with greater liquidity options,” said Teng.

“As we continue to welcome more renowned financial institutions to join us as members, with each bringing a pool of buyers and sellers, HGX’s world-class platform will assist stakeholders in overcoming problems associated with illiquid assets,” he added.

Leveraging blockchain

HGX is also allowed to list and trade both digital and non-digital Capital Market Products (CMPs), giving investors and issuers the freedom of choice.

It leverages advanced blockchain technology to digitise assets for unrivalled efficiency, which brings forth the possibility of trading in smaller lots at a fraction of the charges associated with a public listing.

This, in turn, benefits issuers who seek partial liquidity or own a limited amount of shares, including employees of private companies with equity, gained via Employee Share Option (ESOP) or Employee Share Ownership (ESOW) plans.

Also Read: Forward looking and flexible: How Singapore is setting the stage for digital asset innovation

HGX offers the full spectrum of services, including on-boarding, verification and custodising of securities, to facilitate digital transactions.

Additionally, the one-off procedure, via the blockchain, allows investors to conduct subsequent sale of the same lot, through HGX, with ease.

Non-digital trading options are available to buyers and sellers making their first foray into this realm of digitised securities. The blend of established trading practices with disruptive technology paves the way for a bespoke investment solution.

As more companies delay their IPOs, opportunities are abound in the private capital markets. However, there are high barriers to entry for new participants. Apart from lack of access, interested parties are also confronted with information asymmetry.

HGX eliminates these barriers by equipping investors with information and perspectives.

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Image Credit: HGX

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