SingTel announced in a press release today that it is acquiring GTW Holdings, the owners of HungryGoWhere, Singapore’s most visited foodie site, for S$12M (US$9.4M).

The site, which was started in 2007, has a presence in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Australia. Under the terms, GTW will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SingTel. It will merge operations with inSing.com, another SingTel subsidiary with an audience of two million customers.

With the purchase, SingTel claims it has the largest food and lifestyle audience in the island state.

GTW’s Singapore-based founders will play a crucial role in growing SingTel’s services in Singapore and beyond.

GTW will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SingTel. Its operations will be merged with inSing.com, also a subsidiary of SingTel, giving the combined portal an audience of 2 million customers, which SingTel claims makes it the largest food and lifestyle audience in Singapore.

GTW’s Singapore-based founders will continue to play an important role in expanding SingTel’s services in Singapore and internationally, according to the press release.

(Read our 2009 interview with Wong Hoong An, HungryGoWhere co-founder)

“A cornerstone of SingTel’s growth strategy is to build digital solutions that help consumers in their daily lives – as they live, work and play. Possessing the local knowledge and content is critical as it allows us to compete effectively in these areas,” said Allen Lew, CEO of SingTel’s Digital L!fe group.

“SingTel will continue to form partnerships for important and unique content, including in retail, entertainment and other lifestyle needs. The talented HungryGoWhere team has built a much-loved brand which has become the go-to site for restaurant reviews and information, delivering a great experience around one of Singapore’s favourite pastimes.” he said.

Dennis Goh, founder and managing director of HungryGoWhere, said: “This deal allows our award-winning content to be seen by even more people in the region and will accelerate the investment and distribution of our new online restaurant reservation system.”

SingTel plans to grow HungryGoWhere’s existing restaurant reservation system, TableDB, and help it scale across Asia. In Singapore, TableDB is competing with Chope and Reserveit.sg, which are the front-runners in the space.

The telecommunications company has been making a number of acquisitions in the digital media and advertising space of late. In March this year, it purchased US digital ads company Amobee for US$321M. In May, it bought AdJitsu, a 3D mobile advertising company.

Expect the Singapore giant to make more acquisitions in the coming months, especially in emerging markets. It has hinted that it will acquire non-phone businesses in China and India, in a move away from slow-growth markets in Singapore and Australia.

Related articles:

Cheatsheet of technology startup acquisitions in Southeast Asia
Restaurant reservation sites take off in Singapore

The Awards Ceremony is a culmination of the 13th Start-Up@Singapore, Singapore’s premier business plan competition, and it will be the platform where the finalists will showcase their ideas and the winners for the competition will be announced. It will be held on the 19th May 2012, Saturday, from 1.15 pm to 3.45 pm.

Start-Up@Singapore (S@S) is supported by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, NUS Business School Alumni Association and NUS Business School. Having seen more than 2500 teams participating in the past 12 years, S@S has established itself as a credible and competitive platform, helping entrepreneurs make the critical transition from paper to product. We have helped spin off over 90 companies, doling out up to half a million in cash and in-kind prizes such as incubation space and mentorship support.

Some of the success stories who emerged from Start-up@Singapore include tenCube, which was recently acquired by McAfee, and Soyato, to name a few.

Building on this outstanding track record, 13th Start-Up@Singapore (S@S) has seen more than 1100 participants in the Open and Youth categories from the world over, making this edition the most successful one thus far. For the first time in our competition history, Start-Up@Singapore has introduced the Social Enterprise/Co-operative category in recognition of the growing tide of social entrepreneurs in Singapore.

Out of sixteen Social Enterprise/Co-operative Finalists, winners will receive the top cash prizes of $15,000 and $3,000 in the open and youth categories respectively. In addition, they will also be granted as direct entry into the S@S Grand Finals on 19th May.

The Awards Ceremony will proudly showcase the innovative ideas of the finalists. Having undergone months of rigorous judging and mentoring, the finalists will enter a final showdown on the day itself, with the winning teams from both categories walking away with attractive prizes worth SGD$85,000. Gracing this event will be Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting minister for MCYS, who will deliver a keynote speech about the Social Enterprise community in Singapore.

During the awards ceremony, competition finalists will each be given 90 seconds to pitch their ideas to the audience. The audience would then vote for their favorite contestant which would determine the “People’s Choice Award”. The prize presentation ceremony will be followed up by an exhibition of the finalists’ ideas and networking tea reception where you will get to network with over 100 leading professionals from the private and public sector.

Event Details

When: Saturday 19th May 2012
Time: 1.15pm to 3.45pm
Where: Genexis Theatre, Fusionopolis, 1 Fusionopolis Way, Singapore 138632. (One North MRT Station) [map]

Register here.

SGE is proud to be the Online Media Partner for the 13th Start-Up@Singapore.

Event Details

When: Saturday to Sunday, 14th-15th January 2012
Where: NUS Business School
Register here by 11th Jan.

Mr David Yim of Udders Ice-Cream, Mr Tong Yee of School of Thought, Associate Professor Albert Teo from NUS business school, Mr Ben Tan of Hauslab D&B Pte Ltd (Design & Build) and Mr Geoffrey Kung of REVERSE Cooperative are the panelists for this event.

Event Details

When: Tuesday, 8th November 2011
Time: 630pm-830pm
Where: Hon Sui Sen Auditorium, NUS Business School, 1, Business Link, Singapore 117592 (Map)
Register here.

This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011.

SGE is proud to be the Official Online Media partner for GEW 2011.

Last year’s competition saw about 338 teams and around 1000 participants, all vying for the top cash prizes of S$20,000 (US$15,500) for the Open Category and S$5,000 (US$3,890) for the Youth Category, which can be used to turn their ideas into reality.

Past winners include mobile security company TenCube, which was acquired by secruity giant McAfee, and Zimplistic, which produces Rotimatic — a roti-making machine.

This year’s official launch, held at the Hon Sui Sen Auditorium of the NUS Business School, was graced by the Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Teo Ser Luck; Director, NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, Prof Wong Poh Kam; as well as CEO of NUS Enterprise, Dr Lily Chan.

For a summary of the panel discussion, check out e27′s article.

Click here for SGE’s past coverage on S@S.

Register here

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Image credit: Tecfan

About The Author

An aspiring branding and product strategist, Ridza Salim is a fourth year Communications & New Media and Technology Entrepreneurship student at the National University of Singapore. Ridza dives deep to understand the relationship between global and local trends in the media, web and technology scenes. Ridza can be found on LinkedIn.

More than just a contest, Start-Up@Singapore provides all participants with opportunities to get professional advice, networking sessions and the chance to pitch your ideas to venture capitalists!

To participate, simply register and submit a three-page executive summary by the Singapore time, 23rd of January 2011 (2359hrs).

Only in her 20s, she left her job at a leading electronic manufacturer to start-up on her own. She recently won the prestigious Start-Up@Singapore 2009 grand champion trophy, which comes with $28,000 in prize money and one free year of office space. Prior to this, Israni’s Zimplistic was awarded the YES! Spring Singapore grant for young entrepreneurs valued at $35,000. Israni aims to partner or license with a consumer appliance brand to bring Rotimatic to market in 2010.

Panelist: Mr John Yap, Co-Founder of Awfully Chocolate and Everything With Fries

Mr John Yap co-founded Awfully Chocolate in 1998. Today, it is a popular dessert franchise with 22 stores in 8 cities. He has since ventured into the eatery business with Everything With Fries, which has outlets in Holland Village and Joo Chiat. A father of three, he runs the businesses with his wife, Ms Lyn Lee.

Panelist: Ms Christina Lim, Founder of Ocean Healthcare

Ms Christina Limis a trained pharmacist and MBA graduate from Singapore, and she founded the Ocean Healthcare (S) Pte Ltd in 1995. Ocean Healthcare (S) Pte Ltd now distributes Ocean Health, Therapeutic Dermatologic Formula and Ocean Derma products throughout Asia. Christina still spends her time pursuing her passion: formulating new products, delivering lectures and sharing with people ways to improve their health condition for a better quality life.

Panelist: Ms Susan Chong, CEO of Greenpac

Greenpac (S) Pte Ltd (“Greenpac”) is a knowledge-based company that specialises in designing and distributing environmentally friendly packaging products and solutions. Since starting the company in September 2002, Susan grew Greenpac from a one-woman start-up into a thriving multimillion dollar company.that serves Fortune 500 companies and is the market leader for environmentally friendly packaging solutions in Asia. Susan has won several prestigious awards, including the Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 and the Enterprise 50 (E50) 2008, where Greenpac was ranked #4 in the exclusive list of 50 of the most enterprising privately-held local companies in Singapore.

This event is part of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010.

SGE is proud to be the Official Online Media partner for GEW 2010.

Frozen soy

Verleen and her business partner Alan Phua are offering Singapore a solution, a guilty pleasure without the guilt – frozen soy. The Start-Up@Singapore (S@S) Public Relations department met up with the two young entrepreneurs who won S@S in the open category last year. Despite their busy schedules devoted to their start-up, Verleen and Alan shared with us many insights regarding the business and their experiences of entrepreneurship.

The main selling point of Soyato is the innovation of frozen soy. Its conception was based on the popularity of both ice cream and yoghurt. Perceiving a gap between the two products and realising the limitations of a female-oriented yoghurt market, Verleen and Alan developed the notion of a soy-based dessert free of both milk and eggs.

Their product is in fact even healthier than commercial yoghurt, which masks its sourness with high sugar content. With soy milk as its base, not only can Soyato cater to pockets such as the vegan, vegetarian and lactose intolerant, they provide for anyone who enjoys their ice cream but prefers a healthy alternative. Simply put, Soyato is giving us the best of both worlds.

Future plans

Beginning with nothing but an idea like any other start-up company, Soyato has developed a concrete business plan for expansion. From 4 basic flavours, the dessert now comes in 20 different tastes. They are also opening their first retail store by the end of 2010. When asked about their vision for the company, Verleen and Alan expressed plans to open 3 stores in 1 ½ years and penetrate not just Asian but Western markets.

A strong foundation is required for success

As young graduates, they have big and admirable plans for Soyato. Yet, their ambition and verve are complemented by a cautious awareness that a strong foundation is required for success. Verleen and Alan recognise the need to resolve issues with back-up operations before expansion can be materialised. To tackle foundation operational issues, they have thought of pre-packing ingredients in the production process as to ensure consistency and a high level of quality. However, they also realise the ‘people factor’ is the most difficult problem to work on.

Advice to aspiring entrepreneurs

What advice do Verleen and Alan have for budding entrepreneurs? They encourage young students to have a vision. It is never too early to plan for your business. They also advise youths to join business plan competitions. The process of such a competition forces one to think through concrete plans to implement one’s business idea. Winning the competition is not as important as getting the feedback necessary for start-up companies. Also, a competition imposes a deadline, which forces the participants to stay on track with development.

Verleen and Alan were themselves final-year students when they participated in Start-up@Singapore 2009. S@S has provided them with opportunities to develop their business route and to create a plan that is more than just a product. Even after the competition, they were placed in many settings to conduct networking. Sometimes working at the National University of Singapore incubation hub, they have also received much help from the school.

Throughout the interview, Verleen and Alan were both eager to share their experiences and ideas. We hope to see many more of such young innovative talents to contribute to Singapore’s entrepreneurial landscape.

Soyato on Facebook and Twitter.

Written by He Yining, he.yining@startup.org.sg.

This article is brought to you by 12th Start-Up@Singapore. Visit Startup.org.sg for more highlights.