Daily Briefing: COE prices close higher since suspension; Openspace Ventures raised $125.17m in first close of third SE Asia fund

And scientists seek power in shadow energy.

From ChannelNews Asia:

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed higher across the board in the first bidding exercise since tenders were suspended because of COVID-19 restrictions. A total of 9,635 bids were received, with a quota of 4,382 COEs available.

For Category A cars, or those 1,600cc and below with horsepower not exceeding 130bhp, premiums closed at $33,520, up from $31,210 in the last exercise in March whilst premiums for larger and more powerful cars in Category B rose to $35,889 from $30,012.

Open category COEs, which can be used for any vehicle type but end up being used mainly for large cars, rose to $34,989 from $32,500.COEs for commercial vehicles, which include goods vehicles and buses, rose to $24,502 from $22,002 in the previous bidding exercise.

Motorcycle premiums closed at $7,702, up from $4,489 in the last exercise.

Read more here. 

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Openspace Ventures has raised over $125.17m (US$90m) for the first close of its $278.15m (US$200m) third Southeast Asia fund.

Limited partners, or investors, in previous Openspace funds, including Temasek Holdings and Stepstone Group, are understood to have backed the latest vehicle. Openspace Ventures is understood to have made the fund’s first close at the end of June. Its first close came at a time where the pandemic has evoked widespread caution in the fundraising market.

This isn’t the only fund Openspace is raising at the moment. It is also in the market to raise a $417.3m (US$300m) opportunities fund, which would allow its LPs to co-invest and double down on select portfolio companies.

Read more here. 

From Reuters:

Scientists in Singapore are hoping to perfect a new method of power generation driven largely by shadows, with the hope that it could one day help highly urbanised cities power themselves.

The shadow-effect energy generator (SEG) being developed by the National University of Singapore has the potential to harness power like solar cells, but without needing open spaces with uninterrupted light.

To work effectively, the SEG requires both light and dark and, like solar panels, relies on light to shine on silicon to energise electrons. However, using panels that feature a thin layer of either gold, silver, platinum or tungsten, the difference in light intensity drives electrons from lit areas towards the shade, creating electricity in the shaded areas.

The panels that are being tested are about 6 sqcm in size and capable of producing just 0.25 volts, meaning about 20 are needed to power a light bulb, or charge a cellphone.

Read more here.