Industry News

Angel Investment Network (AIN), the world’s largest online angel investment platform, has announced the launch of its first Chinese language site in Singapore. This strategic move aims to capitalise on the entrepreneurial potential of the Chinese-speaking population and the dynamic growth of the region. With 17% of the global population speaking Chinese, AIN is expanding its reach to connect investors with early-stage startups in one of its top 10 markets.

The decision to launch in Singapore, a key global financial hub, is driven by the country’s high rate of bilingualism, which is expected to enhance engagement and local investment activity. Mike Lebus, co-founder of AIN, stated, “We are delighted to launch our first Chinese language site in Singapore. This is a strategic step to break down language barriers and directly support entrepreneurs in markets we haven’t yet covered in their local language.”

AIN, founded in 2004, now operates 42 networks across 90 countries with over 2 million users. The new site is part of AIN’s commitment to improving accessibility for its international user base. The platform has supported tens of thousands of businesses worldwide, with investments ranging from £10,000 to £1m.

The launch marks a significant milestone in AIN’s global expansion, aiming to connect more investors with innovative startups. As the largest angel investment community globally, AIN continues to support ambitious founders in scaling their businesses.

Visa has revealed that the recent F1 Singapore Night Race significantly boosted tourism and commerce, with a marked rise in visitor arrivals and spending. The event, known for its global appeal, saw a substantial increase in digital payment adoption and nighttime economy activities, according to VisaNet data.

During the race period, travel-related spending in Singapore surged compared to the previous year, with international visitors primarily from China, Australia, the US, and Malaysia. These visitors contributed to a double-digit percentage increase in transaction volumes across hospitality, retail, and entertainment sectors. Notably, affluent travellers, who comprised 30% of visitors, accounted for 40% of the total spending, highlighting their impact on the local economy.

Visa’s data also indicated a significant rise in corporate travel during the race week, coinciding with various conferences and exhibitions. Business cardholder visits increased by 80%, with their spending nearly tripling. The unique timing of the race led to a 90% surge in late-night spending, particularly in areas like Marina Bay, Clarke Quay, and Tanjong Pagar.

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Singapore benefited greatly, with traveller spending rising by 65%, especially in retail and dining. Local eateries, cafes, and SMBs in electronics and groceries saw notable spending increases.

Adeline Kim, Visa’s Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, stated, “The F1 Singapore Night Race is a showcase of Singapore’s vibrancy and global appeal. Our data shows that the event not only attracts a diverse group of affluent travellers but also drives significant uplift for local businesses.” Visa’s insights aim to help merchants tailor their offerings and marketing strategies to maximise engagement and spending.

The Ascott Limited, a wholly owned lodging business unit of CapitaLand Investment, has announced the signing of seven new properties in Vienna and Seville, marking a significant expansion in its European footprint. This development adds nearly 1,100 units to Ascott’s portfolio, bringing its total to 64 properties across 26 cities in Europe.

The announcement was made during the official opening of lyf Gambetta Paris, Ascott’s first lyf property in France. The lyf brand, known for its experience-led social living concept, now has eight properties across Europe. Kevin Goh, CEO of Ascott, highlighted Europe’s importance in the company’s global growth strategy, citing strong tourism fundamentals and fragmented supply as key factors.

In Vienna, Ascott has strengthened its partnership with VIE Trust Real Estate Group by signing five new properties, adding over 750 units. These include a second lyf-branded property set to open by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, in Seville, Ascott has partnered with Forty Management SA to develop two properties as part of the Lagoon City resort, marking its first beachside resort project in Europe.

Lee Ngor Houai, COO for Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and China at Ascott, emphasised the company’s disciplined expansion strategy, focusing on destinations with authentic demand for quality accommodation. The new signings reflect Ascott’s commitment to expanding its asset-light model through franchise and management agreements, enhancing its presence in one of the world’s most attractive hospitality markets.

DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, and Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), a leading financial institution in Saudi Arabia, have announced a strategic partnership to enhance trade settlement, financing, and regional currency clearing solutions. Formalised at the Sibos conference, this collaboration seeks to facilitate trade, investments, and remittances across the burgeoning Asia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economic corridor.

Trade between Southeast Asia and GCC nations reached approximately $130.7b in 2023, with an additional $50b expected by 2027. The partnership aims to leverage the strengths and networks of both banks to offer trade financing solutions, including letters of credit and trade loans, to their clients. Additionally, DBS and BSF will explore joint financing of client transactions to manage risk and expand financing capacities.

To address the increasing demand for seamless cross-border payments, the banks plan to utilise each other’s clearing networks. This includes DBS’ access to seven major Asian currency clearing corridors and BSF’s Saudi Riyal clearing services. BSF will also consider using DBS GlobeSend, a cross-border payment solution, to enable same-day payments across DBS’ global network.

Sriram Muthukrishnan of DBS highlighted the growing interconnection between Asia and the Middle East, stating that the partnership aims to facilitate the flow of goods, services, and capital. Faisal Darwish of BSF emphasised the collaboration’s potential to strengthen financial connectivity and open new opportunities for businesses and consumers. This partnership underscores Saudi Arabia’s pivotal role in the Asia-GCC corridor’s growth.

Rex International Holding Limited has announced that its subsidiaries achieved a combined production of 10,999 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in September 2025 across fields in Norway, Oman, and Germany. Lime Petroleum AS, a subsidiary of Rex, reported a production of 10,501 boepd from the Brage and Yme Fields in Norway. Lime Petroleum holds a 33.8434% interest in Brage, operated by OKEA ASA, and a 25% interest in Yme, operated by Repsol Norge AS. The Yme Field’s gas is utilised for production operations and re-injected for enhanced oil recovery.

In Oman, Masirah Oil Limited, another Rex subsidiary, recorded an average production of 444 stock tank barrels per day (stb/d) from the Yumna Field in Block 50. The field experienced a shutdown from 1 to 20 September to facilitate a change in the Floating Storage and Offloading tanker, resuming operations on 21 September. Masirah Oil holds a 100% interest in this block.

Meanwhile, Lime Resources Germany GmbH reported a production of 54 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from the Schwarzbach and Lauben Fields in Germany. Lime Resources holds full ownership of the Schwarzbach Field and a 50% stake in the Lauben Field, operated by ONEO GmbH & Co.KG. The gas produced at these fields is used on-site for heating purposes.

These updates highlight Rex International Holding’s ongoing activities and interests in oil production across multiple regions, showcasing the company’s strategic operations in the energy sector.

Strutt Inc, a Singapore-based mobility robotics company, has achieved significant recognition by winning the Red Dot Best of the Best and the Red Dot Luminary awards for its flagship personal mobility product, the Strutt ev¹. These prestigious awards highlight the company’s innovation in integrating advanced automotive technology into personal mobility. Following this success, Strutt is establishing a manufacturing facility at JTC’s Bulim Square in the Jurong Innovation District, aiming to produce 1,000 units per month.

The Red Dot awards, evaluated by 16 international experts, celebrate design excellence and innovation. The Red Dot Luminary, awarded to only one project globally each year, underscores Strutt’s leadership in design. Tony Hong, CEO of Strutt Inc, expressed pride in bringing this recognition to Singapore whilst enhancing local manufacturing capabilities.

Strutt’s operations align with Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative, which seeks to improve citizens’ quality of life through technology. The Strutt ev¹, featuring sensors and autonomous navigation, empowers users to navigate urban environments confidently. With Singapore’s ageing population projected to reach 25% by 2030, Strutt’s technology addresses societal needs by offering smart mobility solutions.

In collaboration with MOBOT, Singapore’s largest personal mobility device retailer, Strutt introduced the ev¹ to the local market. The company also plans to participate in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, marking a significant step in its global expansion strategy.

Capital Group, a leading global investment manager, has partnered with DBS to offer Singaporean investors a simplified entry into the world of stocks and bonds. From 13 October, DBS/POSB customers can invest in the Capital Group American Balanced Fund (LUX) (AMBAL) through Class U1 fdxm, a share class with a 0% upfront sales charge available for a limited time.

The collaboration aims to lower investment barriers for retail investors by providing access to a globally diversified, actively managed strategy. Jeik Sohn, Head of Singapore and Southeast Asia Client Group at Capital Group, highlighted the importance of encouraging long-term investing habits, noting that idle cash can be eroded by inflation and represents missed growth opportunities. “We’re proud to offer local investors access to our AMBAL fund, part of a time-tested strategy with nearly five decades of consistent performance,” Sohn stated.

James Tan, Group Head of Investment Products and Advisory at DBS Bank, emphasised the initiative’s significance for younger investors who may find investing daunting. “Launching AMBAL reflects our commitment to offering trusted, time-tested investment solutions,” Tan said.

The AMBAL fund, managed by a team of 12 portfolio managers with extensive experience, focuses on capturing US market growth whilst preserving capital. With a minimum investment of S$1,000 and a 1.15% annual management fee, the fund offers a balanced approach to investing. The initiative underscores the commitment of both Capital Group and DBS to providing world-class investment solutions to Asian investors.

Singapore has emerged as the leading hub for FinTech investments in Southeast Asia, capturing a significant 84% of the total $839m raised in the region during the first nine months of 2025, according to the Tracxn Geo Funding Trends Report. Despite a notable decline in overall funding compared to previous years, Singapore’s dominance underscores its pivotal role in the sector.

The report highlights a 39% decrease in total funding from $1.4b in the same period in 2024, and a 56% drop from $1.9b in 2023. Seed-stage funding saw a sharp decline, with only $62.3m raised, marking a 63% decrease from 2024. Early-stage funding also fell significantly to $219m, a 66% drop from the previous year. However, late-stage funding remained stable at $558m, consistent with 2024 figures.

Notably, the region witnessed three significant funding rounds exceeding $100m, involving companies such as Thunes, Airwallex, and Bolttech. These rounds highlight continued investor confidence in select growth-stage FinTech firms. Additionally, Southeast Asia recorded two initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2025, doubling the number from the previous year, with Antalpha and TCBS going public.

Investor activity remained robust across all stages, with Iterative, 500 Global, and 1337 Ventures leading seed-stage investments. Peak XV Partners and Citi Ventures were prominent in early-stage funding, whilst DST Global Partners and Unbound focused on late-stage investments.

The report indicates a contraction in overall funding activity, driven by declines in seed and early-stage investments. However, Singapore’s continued dominance and strategic mergers and acquisitions, such as KFin Technologies’ acquisition of ASCENT, reflect ongoing investor interest in the region’s FinTech landscape.

RegASK, a Singapore-based leader in agentic AI, has launched the Action Hub, the first vertical agentic AI command centre designed specifically for regulatory affairs. This innovative platform integrates RegASK’s agent network and AI workflows into a single workspace, enabling regulatory teams to automate routine tasks and make faster, data-driven decisions. The Action Hub is designed to mirror existing workflows, eliminating technical barriers and enhancing productivity.

The Action Hub functions as a digital command centre, where multiple AI agents work in parallel to handle tasks such as research, impact assessment, and stakeholder communication. By embedding automation into familiar workflows, the platform allows regulatory professionals to manage updates and generate audit-ready insights swiftly. “With Action Hub, we’ve made vertical agentic AI accessible and intuitive for every regulatory professional,” said Amenallah Reghimi, Chief Product and Technology Officer at RegASK.

Key innovations of the Action Hub include the Business Context Framework, which allows organisations to personalise regulatory alerts with company-specific metadata, and Impact Analysis with Context Engineering, which provides hyper-personalised assessments for regulatory alerts. Additionally, the Workflow Orchestration feature transforms compliance activities into streamlined workflows, whilst the Near Real-Time RegGenius offers immediate AI analysis of uploaded documents.

Caroline Shleifer, Founder and CEO of RegASK, stated, “This launch reflects our broader mission to transform regulatory affairs from a reactive compliance function into a strategic business enabler.” By unifying AI agents, data, and decision-making, RegASK aims to help organisations improve compliance outcomes and strengthen business resilience in a complex global landscape.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled the BLOOM initiative, designed to extend settlement capabilities through collaboration with the financial industry. Announced on 16 October 2025, BLOOM—standing for Borderless, Liquid, Open, Online, Multi-currency—will facilitate settlements using tokenised bank liabilities and well-regulated stablecoins, whilst managing risks in the digital settlement asset landscape.

BLOOM builds on the foundation of Project Orchid, which explored the use of a digital Singapore dollar. Since its inception in 2021, Project Orchid has conducted over 10 trials, leading to market-ready solutions from participating financial institutions. BLOOM will cater to the increasing interest in tokenised bank liabilities and stablecoins, supporting multiple currencies and both domestic and cross-border payments.

The initiative will focus on several key areas:
– Distribution and clearing of settlement assets, with members like Circle, DBS, and OCBC working to streamline networks.
– Programmable controls for compliance checks, aiming to reduce costs and enhance consistency, with contributions from Ant International and StraitsX.
– Agentic payments, using AI to automate transactions, with involvement from Coinbase and DBS.

Kenneth Gay, Chief FinTech Officer at MAS, stated, “BLOOM enhances the range of settlement asset options for participants, complementing ongoing MAS-industry collaboration on asset tokenisation under Project Guardian.” MAS invites additional financial institutions and partners to join BLOOM, aiming to advance digital asset capabilities and financial innovation.