Daily Briefing: Minister Wong urges employers to continue WFH arrangements; Cybersecurity startup Aiculus raised $932k in seed funding

And Singapore enters survival mode and looks to reinvent itself in the post-pandemic period.

From Human Resources Online:

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong urged businesses, companies, and employers to all step up their safe management practices at work in order to further reduce the risk of transmission at workplaces.

Wong noted that since Phase One, about 57% of new cases are linked, with the remaining 43% unlinked.

Amongst the linked cases in the community, the vast majority were cases transmitted through households. Beyond the household, some infections are also taking place in workplaces. According to ST, workplace infections have risen from 22% before Phase 2, to 36% now.

"Making sure that the majority of the employees continue to work from home is one precaution that every employer should continue to take. Beyond that, for those who have to be in office, having split teams, making sure they do not gather together for social activities – these are important precautions that everyone, every employer, should continue to uphold," he said.

Read more here. 

From DealStreetAsia:

Singapore-based software security provider Aiculus raised around $932k (US$670k) in a seed financing round led by early-stage venture capital firm Cocoon Capital, alongside an angel investor, according to an announcement.

The company said it will use the capital to expand its technology team and accelerate growth across Australia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia.

Cocoon Capital’s managing partner Will Klippgen notes that Aiculus is addressing a key need for financial services to secure their data and services while adapting to a more open financial infrastructure.

Aiculus earlier participated in ICE71 Accelerate, a three-month accelerator programme for early-stage cybersecurity startups. It received funding from ICE71 co-founders Singtel Innov8 and NUS Enterprise.

Read more here. 

From Bloomberg:

As Singapore’s leaders now grapple with what’s turning out to be the worst slump since independence in 1965, the ruling party is looking to extend its mandate in Friday’s election to help reinvent the economy once again.

They’re already positioning for a post-pandemic world with planned investment in health and biomedical sciences, climate change, and artificial intelligence.

Singapore is taking a typically pragmatic approach to the crisis. In the immediate term, it’s trying to save jobs by increasing wage support and pledging to create 100,000 fresh work and training opportunities.

Beyond the immediate crisis, Singapore is turning its attention to “high impact areas” to drive future growth. At the same time, a series of industry-led groups assembled by the government will explore new opportunities in areas such as robotics, e-commerce and supply-chain digitization.

Read more here.