In the mythical world of venture capital investing, the most prized animal of all is the unicorn which is a startup valued at over US$1b.
Singapore is currently home to four prime unicorns – Grab, SEA, Lazada and Razer – which have a combined market value of $20b out of the 10 unicorns produced in Southeast Asia, according to a report by Bain & Company.
Grab has been promoted to decacorn status, a term used to describe startups that have the potential to hit a valuation of $10b. Grab is positioning itself as Southeast Asia’s ‘superapp’ following recent deals with global banks to incorporate a wider range of payment options for users through its e-wallet GrabPay. The firm also announced it will roll out its remittance service in early 2019 to capture the region’s remittance market that was estimated to be worth $70b in 2017, data from World Bank showed.
New unicorns
This current roster of unicorns like Grab may be joined by three succesful startups this year. According to online platform Tech Collective, the online property platform Property Guru, logistics firm Ninja Van and community marketplace Carousell have the best potential to be Singapore’s next unicorn.
PropertyGuru has raised $329.6m ($240m) over four funding rounds from seven investors, including VCs, Emtek, and TPG. Its series D funding round clinched $200m led by global investment firm KKR. It also fully consolidated Vietnam property portal Batdongsan which is used by over 4 million property seekers into its group. Ninja Van has raised S$161.37m ($117.5m) from five investors and is Southeast Asia’s fastest growing logistics startup. Ninja Van’s series C funding round in January racked in $114.39m (US$8m).
This story is from the January - March 2019 edition of Singapore Business Review.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January - March 2019 edition of Singapore Business Review.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Singapore's health data bill mandates regulated information sharing
To ensure data disclosure and sharing, the Ministry of Health can impose up to $1m in fines for non-compliance.
Venture capitalists sharpen focus on targeting startups' profit paths
Deal activity in Asia Pacific fell 26.3% YoY in 2023, reflecting VC firms' caution.
Strategic locations and value-added services drive growth in self-storage sector
In Singapore, StorHub has introduced online booking for storage spaces of various sizes.
Why Tim Hortons vies for top spot in Singapore's 'third place' Western coffee scene
Capturing this market is better than competing directly with kopitiams and grab-and-go concepts.
CEO Justin Quek steers OrangeTee to real estate centered around customers
A step toward this commitment is the launch of the consumer-centric event 'Property Festival' in 3Q24.
Retailers are urged to view returns management as loyalty drivers
15% of customers abort a transaction if the return policy is subpar.
National security is put front and center with new Significant Investments Review bill
Legal experts believe cybersecurity and AI entities are likely to be affected by the measure.
Three strategies to mitigate BEPS 2.0's tax impact for MNEs
Should the directive be implemented, selected MNES will be subject to a global minimum tax of 15%.
JustCo debuts first pay-per-minute airport hub for business nomads
The co-working space has around 50 hot desks and nap pods, allowing travellers to 'check-in' at work.
Fr8Labs secures major backing to digitalise Asia's freight sector
Investors are showing strong support for Fr8Labs, a company set on transforming the freight forwarding sector traditionally bogged down by manual processes.