Daily Briefing: Hotels with 2019-nCoV cases to get financial aid; MacPherson Road industrial building sold for $88m

And digital identity software provider GTRIIP bags Series B funding.

From TTG Asia:

Singapore hotels with suspected and confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections will receive financial assistance for their environmental cleaning and disinfection costs, announced the Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Hotels, travel agents and tourist guides will also have their licensing fees waived off this year.

As part of this initial package, hotels that provided accommodation to suspected and confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus infections will get up to 50% of third-party professional cleaning fees covered by STB. This is capped at $20,000 per establishment for hotels with confirmed cases and $10,000 per establishment for hotels with suspected cases.

This will be backdated to January 23, when the first case of the infection in Singapore was detected.

Read more here.

From iCompareLoan:

Wisma Gulab, a nine-storey industrial building at 190 MacPherson Road, has been sold to kitchenware and household supplier Heap Seng Group for $88m, Colliers International announced.

This translates to $692 per square foot (psf) on a total net lettable area of 127,240 square feet (11,821 sq m). The property was purchased with vacant possession.

This is the largest freehold industrial site sold in two years since Citimac Industrial Complex was transacted for $430.1 million via collective sale in July 2017. Wisma Gulab sits on freehold land – spanning 54,576 sq ft (5,070.30 sq m) – and is strategically located at the corner of Genting Road and MacPherson Road in the city fringe

Read more here.

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based GTRIIP, a digital identity software provider that enables hotel check-ins with a selfie, has secured undisclosed Series B funding from investors, including Japanese venture capital firm Global Brain.

GTRIIP will use proceeds from the latest funding round to expand in the Asia Pacific, especially in markets with ageing populations, waning workforces, and high labour costs.

Other investors in the round include Kepventure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, and Japanese VC firm Accord Ventures, according to a statement. It had previously raised $1m in its Series A funding round from M1.

Founded in 2014, GTRIIP’s solution uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automatically verify photo IDs and owners.

Read more here.