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Ecosystem Roundup: EF halts Singapore program, Binance mulls buying a bank, MAS commits US$106M to develop SG financial sector

Entrepreneur First to discontinue Singapore programme
Entrepreneur First will now focus on a smaller number of hubs where the size of the local talent pool positions it to scale to running multiple vertical programmes concurrently.

Crypto.com passes 70M users, hits over US$1B in revenue this year
Crypto.com offers an exchange platform, e-wallet, and other services; In March last year, it launched a US$200M fund called Crypto.com Capital to invest in early-stage crypto startups.

MAS commits US$106M to develop Singapore financial sector
The government has provided two rounds of funding to the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme; The first was US$70M, granted to 500 projects while the second is a US$141M to support 1,000+ projects.

Ex-Binance Labs exec’s Web3 VC fund nets US$20M
Lingfeng Innovation Fund, led by ex-Binance Labs Executive Director Nicole Zhang, plans to raise a total of US$30M; The money will be invested in crypto startups worldwide.

SG gene therapy startup Nuevocor raised US$11.6M funding
The investors include EDBI, Zora Innovations, SEEDS Capital, and BIVF; The startup focuses on developing Adeno-Associate Virus gene therapy for the treatment of genetically defined cardiac diseases.

Indonesian agritech firm PasarMikro rakes in US$2.5M
The investors are Trihill Capital, Resolution Ventures, Genting Ventures, and 1982 Ventures; PasarMikro, which provides a platform for traders and farmers to carry out transactions, will use the fresh capital to roll out new products.

Singapore completes first foreign exchange with tokenised currency
DBS Bank, JP Morgan, and SBI Digital Asset conducted foreign exchange using tokenised yen, SGD, Japanese government bonds, and SG government security bonds as liquidity pools to leverage the cross-currency transaction.

Web2 founders, get ready for Web3 before 2025 – Insights from Echelon
The best way to move forward is by combining the best of Web2 and Web3 to build better business models and expanding playbooks to complement each other.

Binance mulls buying a bank, says CEO
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao is looking into potentially buying banks as a way of bridging the gap between the worlds of traditional finance and crypto.

Mastercard announces new batch of Web3 engagement programme
Start Path Crypto is Web3 engagement programme that helps blockchain, crypto, and digital asset startups scale; 7 startups from around the world will get access to Mastercard’s channels and customers, mentorship, and tech collaboration.

“See you in the metaverse” – Yours, life
The new and flourishing metaverse industry will expand life opportunities – socialisation, entertainment, business, finance, and science.

‘Early-stage VCs should take advantage of adverse market conditions’
Gobi’s Thomas Tsao says as a global recession looms, investors are sitting on billions of dollars worth of unallocated capital; Fundraising for startups in India and SEA hit a 7-quarter low in Q3 2022.

‘Internet penetration won’t be enough to bring everyone online’
Rohit Jha of Transcelestial said At the heart of the internet distribution problem is the need to provide affordable, high-speed internet to everyone; Transcelestial removes the need to lay expensive fibre to bring internet.

The Angsana Council is here to explain SEA to global investors
Angasana Council has come up with an analysis to showcase why SEA has been one of the world’s most stable places to invest in the last 25 years.

We can no longer adopt a cookie-cutter approach to marketing: Gunalan Ram of CINNOX
CINNOX’s Strategy Marketeer Gunalan Ram talks about the art of executing tasks through teamwork and guided decision-making.

Why most online stores fall flat and how you can improve it?
Today’s customers have high expectations; customer service is the single most important aspect of running an online store.

How this startup is facilitating change within the rental market in SEA
Cove is putting renters at the centre of home rental experience, making it easier, faster, and more flexible to rent homes at honest prices.

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