Having presented at last year’s Launchpad at Echelon, FetchFans is a familiar name in Singapore’s startup scene. The team has progressed since then, and found themselves amidst the jungle in the JDFI Bootcamp this year.
FetchFans has a single purpose: To fetch fans for franchises worldwide. It achieves this with a SaaS solution that delivers scalable brand control for the franchises.
According to founder and managing director Carmen Benitez, brand franchises are in desperate need to use social media. Within that context, they have two concerns: Read more
There are so many online travel startups around that it’s sometimes hard to differentiate them from one another.
The latest to enter this space is Trafflers, which is founded by a group of Dutch geeks: Koh San Ngai, Kenneth Touw, Gherry Harahap, and Giovanni Martina. Trafflers is essentially an online group travel planner that aims to make the process more fun and intelligent. They are currently incubatees at the JFDI-Innov8 2012 Bootcamp.
The secret sauce that sets them apart from other startups like Hipmunk and Wanderfly is the end result of the founders’ Natural Language Processing backgrounds. Essentially, Trafflers can analyze the interactions between travel buddies who are using the app and then make recommendations based on the conversations and behavior. Read more
While adults have a multitude of ways to find information these days using Google, Wikipedia, Siri, and many other new-fangled services, kids are left out in the loop.
They are still stuck with asking their parents about such questions as “Why is the earth round?” and “What are dinosaurs?”
And here’s the reason why: Much of the Internet isn’t designed with young kids in mind. Many websites and apps have interfaces that are too complex, require advanced language skills to navigate, and they overwhelm children with too much information.
This is where Ask Wildby comes in. It is a mobile encyclopedia app that is specifically designed for kids four to seven years old. Children can speak a word into the app, after which they will be brought to a page with a slideshow and a voice narration. Read more
Filed under Innovation & Technology, Mobile, Technology, WebTags: ask wildby, children's apps, education apps, educational apps, jfdi, jfdi-innov8 2012 bootcamp, JFDI.asia, Singapore, wildby
Playmoolah, a startup that has developed a money management game for children that ties them to real life and real money, has won the “Top Startup” title at the Innotribe Challenge showcase held in Singapore on 24th April, Tuesday.
The company will now advance to the Innotribe Startup Challenge finals in Osaka, Japan in October 2012 where it will compete for the US$50,000 prize. The Challenge is part of Sibos, the annual conference of global financial organization SWIFT. Read more
Mark John Buenconsejo is an elder statesman in the tech startup community in Cebu, Philippines. No, he’s not that old; at around 32 (he says he couldn’t remember exactly), he’s not far removed from the twenty somethings that predominate the scene.
But he is one of the most experienced. Formerly a freelance developer, his entrepreneurial journey started in 2002. He set up LearningToGo to create educational software for Palm PDAs, the now obsolete precursor to today’s touchscreen smartphones.
Thinking global from day one, it was one of the few software companies then that was developing in the Philippines and selling in the United States.
“Palm was big back then. They had an app store. They don’t require you to have a business address, so anyone can set up an account and submit their apps,” he says.
They developed their first app, a dictionary, for a competition. While they didn’t submit it in the end, they pushed it out to PalmGear, which was an app store. Within a month, they made 150,000 Pesos (US$3,000), enough to recoup development costs.
“No programmers developed dictionaries then. It was a very boring app,” he says. Read more
Will users cheat on Insync?
Technophiles have generally greeted the launch of Google Drive with cheer.
That’s no surprise: It has 5GB of free space, which is more than double the size of what Dropbox offers, but less then Microsoft’s Skydrive (see handy comparison). It is also integrated with Google’s power search functionality.
Eventually, it will have deep integration with Google Apps and Google’s whole range of services, resulting in less friction for user adoption.
Most crucial of all is Google Drive’s ability to automatically sync files with your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. All you need to do is install the app, which is already available on Android, PC, Mac, and coming to the iOS. It functions similarly to Dropbox.
This puts Insync in an awkward position. Read more
Filed under Innovation & Technology, Technology, WebTags: Cloud, Dropbox, Google, google drive, insync, Neoteny Labs, Philippines, Reid Hoffman, santosh jayaram, Singapore, Toivo Annus
Chances are, if you’re a job seeker or employer in Southeast Asia, you would know Jobstreet.com. A leading online recruitment site in the region, the Malaysian company expanded to the Philippines in 1999. And that was before the Dotcom Crash.
Yet, Mynimo, a relatively new job recruitment site, has managed to carve a niche in Cebu, a province in the Philippines. Read more
Update on 6th May 2012: Home24.sg goes live quietly, begins sneak attack on Singapore’s furniture retailers
Home24.sg, the Singapore version of Rocket Internet’s global furniture store, has gone live. The Samwer Brothers have made known their intentions to expand into Singapore and Malaysia for some time, launching their Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages.
They have an ongoing contest called Colour My Sofa where participants can win a S$500 cash prize.
Rocket Internet’s entry into the furniture business in Southeast Asia is certainly one to watch out for. Home24.sg is up against some very strong furniture retailers with established brand names, with IKEA and Courts being some of them.
It’s unclear how Singaporeans will take to ordering furniture online, but I suspect most of them are more comfortable heading down to showrooms and feeling the pieces for themselves.
That could change very soon.
IKEA is perhaps the most well-known furniture company in the world. They’re recognized for cutting-edge innovation too, even coming up with their own smart TV.
But if they’re not careful, they may find their market share eroded by Home24, Rocket Internet’s online furniture store that debuted in Germany and France and is set to launch in Singapore and Malaysia. Read more
Update on 23rd April, 2012
NUS sends Alvin a letter saying that a change of decision is “highly unlikely”. Message from Alvin on his site:
“Please note that as you have already been considered for all your previous choices, appealing for the same choices would be highly unlikely to change the university’s prior decision.”
This was the exact words written on the letter that I received from National University of Singapore, which happened to be the same words that got me thinking. To me, the intent was simple, to do something now or not to do anything at all. Nevertheless, I apologize if the website have misled you in any way. :)
A Big Thank You, to the people who have supported me. :)
Just some further clarification, I was offered Computing (Information Systems Courses), and as the skills that the website portrays, and rightly so, there are no majors in Information System Courses that are relevant to me. When I said Computer Science, I meant Computing (Computer Science Courses), which gives me an option to become a Communications and Media Major. I will be then able to specialize in Content Creations and Mass Communications Group (which is User Interaction and Experience) as well as Games Technology Group.
While many students would give up after finding out that they’ve been denied entry to the university course of their choice, Alvin Wang is different.
Not taking it lying down, this IT diploma graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic created an online resume at helpalvingetintoschool.com to show off his credentials. He hopes to pursue degree in Computer Science at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The website has caught fire on the interwebs, gaining fans and haters alike. So far, it has already garnered over 11,000 Facebook likes. It’s similar to a website started by Matthew Epstein, called Google please hire me. Read more
Neoteny Labs, a Singapore-based tech startup incubator, has announced that they are leading a seed funding round in ImpulseFlyer, a private sale platform for luxury and boutique hotels.
The company is co-founded by Steven Gong, who is the CEO, and Andy Croll, the CTO. Steven had previous experience in the online travel industry and consultancy fields, while Andy has worked as a developer and consultant prior to joining the startup. Read more
