Daily Briefing: Singapore to build floating homes; Finance startup Silot completes US$8m series A round

And here’s why revising CPF rule could not resolve the long term issue of lease expiry.

From Channel News Asia:

Singapore plans to build a floating city for upwards of 50,000 people, with homes at the top, offices in the middle, vegetable farms at the bottom and beaches around it. Dubbed as Green Float, building on water is one of the possibilities for Singapore as it looks for new spaces where people can live, work and play.

Besides the sea, the options include building in the air, such as above roads, canals and existing structures.

Based on the Land Use Plan, an additional 5,600 ha of land are needed by 2030 to cater for a population expected to grow to between 6.5 and 6.9 million.

Read more here.

From DealStreet Asia:

Silot, an artificial intelligence-driven platform for making financial decisions, has announced the completion of an US$8m Series A round led by SBI Investment. Other participants in this round include Sumitomo Corporation, Thailand’s Krungsri Finnovate and existing investor Arbor Ventures, according to the company’s statement on Monday.

The funding raised would be spent on research and development of its knowledge graph technology, market expansion and further financial products innovation.

Silot’s chief executive officer Andy Li said the company plans to tap the Japanese market soon. it currently serves banks in Southeast Asia including Nobu Bank under Lippo Group in Indonesia and Thailand’s largest card issuer Krungsri Bank.

Read more here.

From iCompareLoan:

Economic commentator Chris Kuan said that revising CPF rules for the purchase of older HDB flats is a small relief and a small addition to HDB’s Lease Buyback Scheme, as well as schemes to downgrade to smaller flats.

Kuan added that the impending move of revising CPF rules does not resolve the long term issue of lease expiry and it encourages Singaporeans to keep avoiding thinking about the trade-offs between HDB and retirement.

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong’s reason for revising CPF use rules – to shift the focus away from the remaining lease of the flat – seems to be at odds with the views of the Chief Executive of HDB Cheong Koon Hean. Speaking at a Lecture series organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Cheong said home seekers should pay less for resale flats with shorter lease.

Read more here.

Photo credit: ChannelNews Asia and Shimizu Corporation