Daily Briefing: Singapore sees cycling boom amidst pandemic; Scoot modifies A320 aircraft

And Reapra launches a virtual hackathon for female founders.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Cycling has become more popular in Singapore amidst the pandemic, with sales of personal bicycles going up and bike-sharing companies reporting an increase in ridership.

Bike-sharing operator Anywheel said its ridership increased every month this year, with the exception of April when the "circuit breaker" started.

There was a 68% rise in ridership in January compared to the previous month, 25% increase in February, and 20% in March, said the firm's chief executive Htay Aung.

Ridership fell by about 23% during the circuit breaker but demand has since rebounded, with a 39% increase between June and July, he added.

In July, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) granted Anywheel approval to expand its fleet from 10,000 to 15,000 bicycles. 

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Low-cost carrier Scoot has modified one of its A320 aircraft by removing all passenger seats to carry cargo in the cabin amidst the sharp drop in passenger flights

This has doubled its cargo capacity to nearly 20 tonnes, said the airline.

According to Scoot, it is one of the first airlines in Southeast Asia to operate cargo charters with such modified aircraft, with the first of these flights taking off from Fuzhou to Singapore on 22 August.

"The aircraft transported a total of 13 tonnes of cargo in both the bellyhold and cabin, comprising mainly goods for daily use, and has four more flights scheduled for the rest of August," said Scoot, adding that another aircraft will be modified this week.

To date, Scoot has operated more than 200 cargo charters to and from 10 cities, including Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Perth, and Taipei.

Read more here. 

From e27:

Singapore-based venture builder Reapra has announced the launch of ‘Build to Last‘, a virtual hackathon for existing or aspiring female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia.

Collaborating with Future Females Singapore, a platform that supports existing and aspiring female entrepreneurs, Build to Last aims to bring together like-minded communities and individuals to create a platform for aspiring or existing female entrepreneurs to build their ideas into lasting and profitable businesses.

Revolving around the core theme of business sustainability, participants will be guided through hands-on mentorship and workshops to prepare for their demo day where they will have to incorporate lessons learnt into their business pitch.

The top three winners from the Demo day stand to receive hands-on business coaching from both Reapra and Future Females, advancement into later stage interviews for up to $100,000 funding from Reapra, alongside exclusive offers for Future Females Global Business School.

Applications are open until 28 August.

Read more here.