Daily Briefing: Singapore VC raises $66m in tech fund; Low cost carriers threaten Singaporean aircraft MROs

And here’s how social media may have influenced investment choices.

From Reuters via Yahoo! Finance:

Singapore, the dominant hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) in southeast Asia, the world's fastest-growing aviation market, is under threat from low-cost rivals in nearby Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

As the cheaper challengers look to muscle in on a lucrative market - with annual output of S$8.9 billion ($6.57 billion), Singapore accounts for a quarter of all Asia's MRO business - Singapore-based MRO firms are having to scramble higher up the value chain.

With government backing, the maintenance arms of national carriers Garuda Indonesia, Thai Airways International and Malaysia Airlines are looking to follow the example of Singapore Airlines' SIA Engineering Co and boost revenues from providing services to rival carriers.

Read more here.

From The Motley Fool:

The proliferation of social media has revolutionised information sharing. With more than two billion people using various social media platforms and many of them accessing it on the go, information has never been easier to obtain.

One may think that the speed at which retail investors can obtain the most up-to-date news and stock market analysis will help provide some parity between retail and professional investors. However, this may not be the case.

The spread of information can act as a double-edged sword in the world of investing as some investors unwittingly shoot themselves in the foot due to the “information overload” or information bias.

Read more here.

From Tech in Asia:

US-Singaporean venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners has closed a US$66 million fund for Southeast Asia – its second focused on the region.

The new vehicle – which exceeded its initial US$50 million target – has been backed by Singapore sovereign fund Temasek Holdings, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, and veteran investor Tim Draper, among others. AddVentures, the corporate venture arm of Thai conglomerate Siam Cement Group, also announced an investment in Wavemaker this week.

Wavemaker has already made follow-on investments through the new fund. Those went into financial services platform Coins, which raised a US$10 million series A round earlier this year; online payments specialist Red Dot Payment, which closed US$5 million in series B funding last month; and fashion marketplace Zilingo, which recently got US$17 million for its series B. The firm said that three more series B rounds are expected to close before the end of the year.

Read more here.