Happy Easter everyone. Taro here.
On Friday, I’m taking a trip to Bangkok. It will be the first time for me to travel since February 2020, when I went to New Zealand for a friend’s wedding. The requirements to fly from one country to another has changed a lot since then, with travel passes, arrival testing, and specific bookings needed just to enter.
Some of the technology that has been implemented for these processes hasn’t always lived up to expectations, and many steps still require manual intervention. If there are any keen-minded innovators with ideas to make things easier, smoother, and automated, you have my utmost support.
Open Run
Startups to watch in Asia. This week, we’re looking at startups that build robotics applications.
Location: Singapore
A spinoff from the National University of Singapore, BeeX has developed a hovering autonomous underwater vehicle (HAUV) for underwater inspections of structures such as offshore wind farms.
Location: Japan
Focuses on developing assistive mobility technology with powered prosthetic legs that mimic the natural movement of human legs. BionicM’s investors include the Japan Science and Technology Agency and The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners.
Location: Singapore
The Singaporean startup’s EsoGLOVE Pro helps patients recover from disorders or injuries of the hand using robotic exoskeleton technology. The patients can relearn movements and hand motor functions with the glove’s assistive features.
Location: Japan
Develops robots to help farms with harvesting. Agrist’s robot can pick vegetables such as peppers and cucumbers to reduce the application of manual labor. The startup has also developed a smart greenhouse that monitors crops in combination with its robot for optimal results throughout the year.
Nothing But Net
Recent Startup Wins
- Safe Space, a Singaporean startup that offers live support and online resources for mental wellness, formed a strategic partnership with FWD Insurance to offer digital content on mental health.
- GROW Impact Accelerator third cohort for its program focusing on agrifoodtech involves startups that hail from a range of countries, including Vietnam, Estonia, Nigeria, the US, and Indonesia.
- Singapore-based foodtech startup Glife Technologies is expanding into Indonesia and Malaysia.
Pick & Roll
Interesting Drops From the Week
- Logistics startup Haulio is hiring for a chief operating officer with strong process management and organizational skills alongside experience in managing a high-performing, round-the-clock logistics operations team. If anyone is interested, please reach out to them.
- Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose was suspended by the company’s board after potential investors pointed out financial irregularities, with a claim that there had been no annual financial statements filed since 2019. [via Bloomberg]
- Binance said it has received in-principle approval to offer financial services in Abu Dhabi, months after it was rejected by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. [via ADGM]
- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will received in-principle approval with 13 companies to Singapore and Japan in April. The companies operate in a range of industries, such as dairy, food and beverage, healthcare, aviation, tourism, supply chain, and energy. [via RNZ]
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