Startups
From Gamblers to Makers: How entrepreneurship in travel has evolved over two decades
07/11/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
"Someone's always playing corporation games… we just want to dance here, someone stole the stage." Starship's iconic line from We Built This City could be an anthem for the travel industry, which has faced its own corporate games, disruptions, and rebirths over the last two decades. The industr [...]
What does the future think? SIT students reflect on WiT Singapore 2024: Next Generation
24/10/2024 by WiT
Collectively, it was an “eye-opening” event on the future of Generative AI, hospitality trends and travel tech leadership You can’t truly talk about the Next Generation without including the people who will help shape the future of travel and hospitality. Just like years prior, we invited sev [...]
Gap in technology adoption in experiences sector, many operators lack modern booking and ticketing systems
22/10/2024 by WiT
Arival unveils largest-ever study on the state of the global experiences industry Arival, a global research authority on the in-destination experiences sector of travel and tourism, has announced the release of its largest-ever research study, The Global Operator Landscape: The State of Experiences [...]
The only way to compete, get efficient and productive, says Atlas’ Mary Li
08/10/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Low cost flight startup develops five digital employees; meet Florence, its newest customer care agent As a startup operating in the highly competitive and volatile world of third party low cost flight distribution, Atlas’ founder Mary Li believes the optimum way to compete is by using tech to be [...]
South-east Asia: Reality vs hype
07/10/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
Lightspeed report, from Gojek co-founder, aims at resetting expectations of founders and investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, the multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends, has released a report on “South-east Asia: Resetting Expectations”, to [...]
Agoda’s co-founder Rosenstein: AI will widen the gap between haves and have-nots in travel
18/09/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
“Can a small company with five engineers get it done or do they get wiped out in the face of AI?” One of Robert Rosenstein’s biggest concerns is that AI, like all new tech, will increase the gap between the haves and have-nots. “We experienced this with search and marketing – the b [...]
Reiwa Travel raises US$33m to deepen tech at NEWT and expand beyond Japan
09/09/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
New fund raise hailed as “major turning point” for travel packaging startup In March this year, Reiwa’s founder Takaya Shinozuka had spoken to WiT about his plans to take his new travel packaging startup global and that he was in the midst of raising a new round of funds to power the expansio [...]
Meet the 10 winners of the 2024 Global Startup Pitch 
15/08/2024 by WiT
Ten winners have emerged in the Finals of the 2024 Global Startup Pitch, by WiT and Phocuswright, which was held today. In the four-hour virtual Finals, which started with the Asia Pacific, went onto Emerging Markets, Europe and North America, and ended with two Wildcards, a team of more than 20 ju [...]
Startup stories and lessons from regional entrepreneurs
13/08/2024 by Arvindh Yuvaraj
Up and coming startups, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore, paint a picture of a robust region with ample tech-driven opportunities “Opportunities” was one of the first words that kick-started a panel at WiT Indie a few weeks ago that focused on rising startups in the region - two from Mala [...]
Singapore game, Hidden, makes the leap to New Zealand to gamify Maori stories
29/07/2024 by Yeoh Siew Hoon
First overseas foray for WhatsApp-based game started during pandemic Former journalist and data scientist, Lim Yee Hung, was twiddling his thumbs during the pandemic (like all of us) when during Singapore’s so-called “Circuit Breaker” – the period when people were asked to stay home an [...]