Daily Briefing: FairPrice, WhyQ launch zero-commission food delivery platform; Endofotonics bags $12m series B funding

And Wiz.ai nabs $8.48m pre-series A funding led by GGV Capital.

From Channel News Asia:

FairPrice Group and food delivery start-up WhyQ have launched a new digital platform offering islandwide food delivery at zero commission to vendors, according to an announcement.

This is said to be in response to the lack of affordable delivery platforms due to increased demand of food delivery options for food and beverage (F&B) establishments amid safe distancing measures.

Known as Marketplace@WhyQ, the pilot rollout of the platform aims to help the local F&B community, especially the smaller food establishments.

Unlike most online food delivery platforms, vendors on Marketplace@WhyQ are not required to pay any commission or set-up fee instead, a 6% markup on food price will be used to offset payment gateway and server costs.

Close to 100 stallholders from food courts, coffee shops, hawkers and restaurants have registered to join the platform to date.

Read more here. 

From DealStreetAsia:

Medtech startup Endofotonics has secured $12m (US$8.5m) in a series B funding round from executives of Singapore Medical Group (SMG), according to an announcement.

The fresh funding will be used to drive commercialisation of its early gastric cancer detection system in the Asia-Pcifis, and to expand the coverage of its cancer detection technology to other organs.

Lead investors in the round include SMG chairman Tony Tan Choon Keat and CEO Dr. Beng Teck Liang.

The company claims to have developed the world’s first real-time in-vivo Raman spectroscopy platform, which improves early gastric cancer detection rate.

Endofotonics had raised series A funding from Zig Ventures and Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm Seeds Capital in 2016.

Read more here.

From e27:

Artificial Intelligence startup Wiz.ai closed its pre-Series A funding worth $8.48m (US$6m), led by GGV Capital, according to an announcement.

Wavemaker Partners, ZWC partner, Insignia Ventures, and Orion Fund (managed by K3 Ventures) also joined the round.

The money will be used to expand Wiz.ai’s product offerings and grow its team in Southeast Asia. It also plans to expand its geographical coverage globally.

Established in 2019, Wiz.ai is focussed on facilitating conversational AI for ASEAN languages deploying its AI technologies into large corporations throughout Southeast Asia.

Besides Singapore, the startup also has offices in China and Jakarta with a team of scientists, researchers, linguists, and dialogue designers.

Read more here.