Image: Shutterstock
1. Aliena
Country: Singapore
Category: Space Technology
Year founded: 2018
CEO: Mark Lim Jian Wei
Aliena’s flagship engine, called Music (which stands for Multi-Stage Ignition Compact), provides electric propulsion that enables small satellites to operate in very low earth orbits—those at approximately 250 and 350 kilometers in altitude. In March, Aliena raised $5.6 million in a series A funding round led by Wavemaker Partners to expand its existing jet-propulsion test facilities in Singapore and accelerate the global deployment of its engines.
2. Bluesheets
Country: Singapore
Category: Enterprise Technology & Robotics
Year Founded: 2020
CEO: Christian Schneider
Bluesheets develops AI-powered data entry and management tools that companies use to process financial data. It targets the accounting, insurance, banking and logistics industries. In January, the startup raised $6.5 million in a series A funding round led by Illuminate Financial, with participation by Insignia Ventures Partners, Antler Elevate—the emerging growth fund of VC firm Antler—and 1982 Ventures. That brought the four-year-old startup’s total funding to over $12 million.
3. Botsync
Country: Singapore
Category: Enterprise Technology & Robotics
Year Founded: 2017
CEO: Rahul Nambiar
Rahul Nambiar, Co-founder & CEO, Botsync. Image: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Botsync builds mobile robots for use in factories and warehouses to move pallets, shelves and trolleys. The management software is a no-code platform, which allows users to drag-and-drop functions to customize the robots to fit with existing operations. In June, Botsync raised $5.2 million in a series A ROUNDled by Betatron Venture Group and Capital 2B, bringing its total funding to over $8 million.
4. ecoSPIRITS
Country: Singapore
Category: Manufacturing & Energy
Year Founded: 2020
CEO: Paul Gabie
To reduce waste from single-use glass bottles, ecoSpirits offers restaurants, bars, hotels and beverage brands its 4.5-liter ecoTOTE container—roughly equivalent to six bottles—that can be cleaned, sanitized and refilled after use. The startup says brands across 28 countries are using its containers, including Absolut Vodka, Havana Club and Smirnoff. The firm raised $10 million in series A funding in 2023 led by New York-based Closed Loop Partners with participation by Proterra Asia, Pavilion Capital, Convivialité Ventures and returning investor Wavemaker Partners.
5. Fluid
Country: Singapore
Category: Finance
Year Founded: 2023
CEO: Trasy Lou Walsh
Applying a “buy now, pay later” model to B2B commerce, Fluid offers flexible payment options for companies to pay their suppliers. Using the Singapore-based payments startup’s platform, businesses can apply for credit lines and track invoices and payments. In February, Fluid raised $5.2 million in a series A funding led by Insignia Ventures Partners, bringing the one-year-old startup’s total funding to $7 million.
6. Graas
Country: Singapore
Category: Enterprise Technology & Robotics
Year Founded: 2022
CEO: Prem Bhatia
Singapore-based startup Graas—the name is short for “growth as a service”—uses predictive AI to assist e-commerce businesses. Through Graas’ online platform, users can track order volumes and access data-generated insights related to marketing and inventory management. Founded in 2022, Graas raised $40 million in a series A funding round that year, which it used to acquire Shoptimize, an Indian data specialist, and SELLinALL, an e-commerce startup in Singapore.
7. HitPay
Country: Singapore
Category: Finance
Year Founded: 2016
CEO: Aditya Haripurkar
HitPay offers easy payment solutions for online and brick-and-mortar businesses. Through HitPay’s software tools, companies can accept credit card and e-wallet payments, and offer “buy now, pay later” packages. The Singapore-based startup has expanded into other countries including Malaysia and Thailand. In May 2022, the Y Combinator alum raised $15.8 million in series A funding led by Tiger Global, with participation by returning investors Global Founders Capital and HOF Capital.
Also read: From Accacia to Virohan, Indian companies on Forbes Asia’s 100 to Watch list
8. Jenfi
Country: Singapore
Category: Finance
Year Founded: 2019
CEO: Jeffrey Liu
Jenfi offers flexible financing for online businesses across Southeast Asia such as e-commerce operators. Under its “growth capital as a service” model, Jenfi disburses loans of up to $1 million in exchange for a fixed percentage of monthly revenue. The non-dilutive capital can be used for marketing campaigns and inventory management. Last May, the startup raised $6.6 million in a pre-series B round led by Headline Asia, bringing the four-year-old Y Combinator graduate’s total equity funding to almost $13 million.
9. K-ID
Country: Singapore
Category: Enterprise Technology & Robotics
Year Founded: 2023
CEO: Kieran Donovan
helps game developers comply with privacy regulations and make online gaming safer for children and teens. It can detect the age of a game user through various verification methods, after which k-ID automatically configures the game’s settings to age-appropriate content. In June, k-ID announced a $45 million series A funding round from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing its total funding to $51 million.
10. Mesh Bio
Country: Singapore
Category: Biotechnology & Healthcare
Year Founded: 2018
CEO: Andrew Wu
Mesh Bio creates a digital replica—or “twin”—of a patient’s body to gain insight into the potential response to various treatments and therapies for chronic diseases. Mesh Bio is working with hospitals in Singapore to predict the risks of patients developing kidney damage from type 2 diabetes. In January, the company raised $3.5 million in series A funding from investors led by East Ventures.
Also read: How SpotDraft is making it easy for businesses to manage legal contracts
11. NEU Battery Materials
Country: Singapore
Category: Manufacturing & Energy
Year Founded: 2021
CEO: Bryan Oh
NEU Battery Materials recycles production- grade lithium from waste batteries through its patented electrochemical redox targeting technology. The startup says its method is more environmentally friendly because the process only consumes electricity and water. Last year, it raised $3.7 million in seed funding from Singapore government-backed SGInnovate, climatefocused investor Shift4Good and the corporate venture arm of Singapore-listed taxi operator ComfortDelGro, among others.
12. Neurowyzr
Country: Singapore
Category: Biotechnology & Healthcare
Year Founded: 2019
CEO: Pang Sze-Yunn
Neurowyzr develops tests to help adults spot and potentially mitigate early cognitive decline. Through a series of online minigames, Neurowyzr’s Digital Brain Function Screen test measures short-term memory, attention and thought flexibility. Last August, it closed its seed funding round led by Jungle Ventures and Peak XV’s Surge, bringing its total to $3.3 million.
Also read: Meet Indiagold, the Zepto of gold loans
13. SaladStop! Group
Country: Singapore
Category: Food & Hospitality
Year Founded: 2009
CEO: Adrien Desbaillets
SaladStop! Group sells meals that appeal to the health-conscious: the SaladStop! brand, grain bowl brand Heybo, sushi takeout line Wooshi and catering service FreshKitchen. Cofounded in 2009 by fatherson duo Daniel and Adrien Desbaillets, the company is also led by Daniel’s daughter Katherine and son-in-law Frantz Braha. It has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines, with over 800 employees and 75 outlets. In 2021, SaladStop raised S$12 million ($9 million) in a series B investment round led by Singapore state investment firm Temasek.
14. SquareX
Country: Singapore
Category: Enterprise Technology & Robotics
Year Founded: 2023
CEO: Vivek Ramachandran
Cybersecurity startup SquareX offers web browser products that help organizations detect and prevent online attacks against their users. SquareX’s browser extension, which has been downloaded 100,000 times from the Google Chrome web store, can alert users to potentially malicious files and websites, avoiding compromised networks. The startup also offers companies web-based VPN and file isolation tools. In 2023, SquareX raised $6 million in funding from Sequoia Capital India & SEA, now known as Peak XV Partners.
15. Tazapay
Country: Singapore
Category: Finance
Year Founded: 2020
CEO: Rahul Shinghal
Tazapay helps small businesses with cross-border payments. Targeting gaming, e-commerce and travel companies, Tazapay enables online payments for companies in over 170 markets globally. In 2023, the fintech startup raised $16.9 million in a series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India & SEA Asia (now called Peak XV Partners) with the participation of EscapeVelocity and the PayPal Alumni Fund.