SaladStop! and SG fintechs amongst “to-watch” startups in APAC

SpaceTech and healthcare startups are amongst those who made the list.

Fifteen (15) Singapore companies and start-ups made it to Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2024 list, including SaladStop! Group and a handful of companies from the lending and payments, manufacturing & robotics, biotechnology & healthcare, and aerospace industries.

Singapore had the second-biggest presence in this year’s list, second only to India, which logged 20 companies. Mainland China (10), Japan (9), and Indonesia (8) rounded up the top five list.

Overall, the 100 companies listed by Forbes amassed over $2b in total investments to date, with 83 of them raising money since the start of 2023 despite venture capital raising in the Asia Pacific falling to a seven-year low.

Fintech companies Fluid, HitPay, Jenfi, and TazaPay raised the banner for payments and lending in Singapore.

Four tech firms included in the list are Bluesheets, Botsync, Grass, and Square X. Bluesheets develops AI-powered data and management tools, whilst Botsync builds robots for mobile and factory use. 

Meanwhile, Square X offers web browser products that help organizations detect and prevent online attacks against their users; whilst Graas uses predictive AI to give businesses data-generated insights for marketing and inventory management.

Another tech startup, K-ID, helps game developers comply with privacy regulations and can detect the age of a game user through various verification methods. K-ID will also automatically configure the game’s settings to age-appropriate content.

Two biotechnology & healthcare companies made it in the list. First is Mesh Bio, which creates a replica or “twin” of a patient’s body to gain insight into the potential response to various treatments and therapies for chronic diseases. 

Neurowyzr, meanwhile, develops tests to help adults spot and potentially mitigate early cognitive decline.

Two Singapore firms from the manufacturing & energy category made it on the list: ecoSPIRITS, which aims to reduce waste from single-use glass bottles with its 4.5-liter ecoTOTE container; and NEU Battery Materials, which recycles production- grade lithium from waste batteries.

SaladStop! Group was the only food & hospitality startup from Singapore to join the list. The group currently has four different brands, across which it has over 800 employees and 75 outlets: the SaladStop! brand, grain bowl brand Heybo, sushi takeout line Wooshi and catering service FreshKitchen.

Finally, one space tech firm made it to the list: Aliena. Its flagship engine Music rprovides electric propulsion that enables small satellites to operate in very low Earth orbits of around 250 to 350 kilometers in altitude.