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11 New & Trendy Singapore Startups to Watch in 2016

Written by on September 07, 2016

Besides being an amazing tourist location, Singapore is also a great place to start your business. As proof, Singapore was ranked #10 in the Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking in 2015 by Compass.

In general, Southeast Asia has a different landscape for investors compared, for example, to the US. But regardless, according to The World Bank, Singapore was ranked #1 in the world for ease of doing business in 2015-2016.

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Here’s a list of the top 11 most interesting startups in Singapore.

Carousell

Singapore Startups: Carousell

Category: E-Commerce

Founders: Quek Siu Rui, Marcus Tan, Lucas Ngoo

Carousell is a peer-to-peer marketplace founded in 2012. The startup has already raised around $42 million.

The creators emphasize the speed of interactions: you can list your entry in 30 seconds and then communicate with potential buyers via messaging within the app.

The company operates in 12 major Asian cities besides Singapore and has 35 million listings globally, with 70 listings being added to the platform each minute.

Vanitee

Singapore Startups: Vanitee

Category: e-commerce

Founders: Douglas Gan, Peng Kong Choy, Xiao Shi Kuik, Meters Ang

Started in 2015,  Vanitee has raised more than $3.5 million and is now expanding throughout Asia, having launched the service in Korea and looking into Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Basically, Vanitee is an Airbnb of the beauty industry: it connects beauty specialists like nail, makeup, hair experts or stylists with customers. Within the platform you can see their portfolios, make an appointment, and agree on the time and price.

Ninja Van

Singapore Startups: Ninja Van

Category: Logistics

Founders: Lai Chang Wen, Boxian Tan, Shaun Chong

Ninja Van is a last-mile delivery service and the fastest-growing Southeast Asian logistic company.

With $2.5 million in investments, the company is already present in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand.

Among their clients there are such huge retailers as P&G, Zalora, and Lazada.

honestbee

Singapore Startups: Honestbee

Category: Logistics

Founders: Joel Sng, Isaac Tay, Jonathan Low

Founded by three Singaporeans, honestbee has already raised more than $15 million in funding. In just six months, the startup was present in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

The honestbee team goes grocery shopping for you: all you need to do is to create a list of what you want to buy, and the specialist will handpick and deliver you products within 43 minutes on average.

MyRepublic

Singapore Startups: MyRepublic

Catergory: Internet Providers

Founders: Greg Mittman, Malcolm Rodrigues, KC Lai

MyRepublic is an Internet provider which delivers high-fibre connection and implements LTE technology across Singapore, New Zealand and Indonesia.

The company has already raised more than $53 million.

FreshMonk

Singapore Startups: FreshMonk

Category: E-Commerce

Founders: Prashant Gulati, Shashank Agrawal

FreshMonk is a crowdfunding platform which helps to design, sell and ship custom t-shirts, resembling Threadless and Kickstarter at the same time.

The company focuses on NGOs, various events and interest groups. It has raised $5 million and plans to expand to newer designs.

TradeGecko

Singapore Startups: TradeGecko

Category: Software

Founders: ‎Cameron Priest, Bradley Priest

TradeGecko is an inventory management software for retailers and SME wholesellers. The platform helps to control, manage and measure stock and sales, syncing the data across various channels and locations.

The startup has raised more than $6.5 million and is currently one of the fastest growing SaaS solutions in Southeast Asia, with clientele in 90 countries.

PropertyGuru

Singapore Startups: PropertyGuru

Category: Real Estate

Founders: Steve Melhuish, Jani Rautiainen

PropertyGuru is Asia’s leading online real estate portal. The platform is designed specifically for the Asian market, and lists property and agency entries.

The company has raised $129 million and currently serves Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Capital Match

Singapore Startups: Capital Match

Category: Finance

Founders: Pawel Kuznicki, Arnaud Bailly, Ming HaoWong

Capital Match is a peer-to-peer crowdfunding loan platform, which is designed to lend to small and medium-sized businesses as they are being under-served by the banks.

The company received close to $1 million in funding, and it handles the entire process of loans: from payment processing and due diligence to debt collection and investor updating.

ReferralCandy

Category: E-Commerce

Founders: Dinesh Raju

ReferralCandy is a refer-a-friend platform that operates via email marketing. A retailer can set their unique Referral Rewards and Friend Offers to make the discounts as flexible and attractive as possible. It could be a cash reward, a donation to charity, or a traditional discount.

More than 3,000 brands are already participating in the program.

The startup has raised S$1 million and is also integrated with major platforms like Shopify and Magento.

Zimplistic

Singapore Startups: Zimplistic

Category: Kitchen Appliances

Founders: Rishi Israni, Pranoti Nagarkar

Zimplistic is a company that creates smart kitchen appliances. Their flagship robot Rotimatic makes wraps and Indian flatbread rotis.

The company has raised $11.5 million in funding. During the first week, the startup sold $5 million worth of machines and received $72 million worth of orders.

Did we miss any other great Singapore startups? Let us know in the comments below?

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