SBR's 20 Hottest Startups of 2014 kicks off its 2nd year

Find out the sizzling startup trends in SEA.

Singapore Business Review held a luncheon panelist meeting at Intercontinental Singapore following the success of the 20 hottest startups to watch in 2014 list.

Now on its second year, the meeting was packed as the release of the 20 startups to watch in 2014 list got readers' attention.

The list featured up-and-coming companies since 2010 which were able to make their business flourish from from initial funding that ranges from $47,500 to $9M. Some were spin-off companies from top local universities while a few were co-founded by expatriates.

The meeting featured 4 sessions in which interesting trends, funding, winning strategies, and e-commerce future were tackled. 

John Fearon, Founder, GHX; Mike Holt, CEO, ConnectedHealth; Grace Sai, Co-Founder, The Hub Singapore, and; Chia Ling Koh, Partner, ATMD Bird & Bird LLP were the panelists for the first session. Interesting trends of new startups in SEA were discussed. Singapore's startup scene was also compared with that of regional peers, and the answer to whether Singapore will be the next Silicon Valley was revealed.

As for session 2, Eric Tachibana, Founder & Managing Director, eXtropia Holdings; Jack Wang, Director, Lexico Holdings; Marcus Chow, Partner, ATMD Bird & Bird LLP, and; Pieter Kemps, Principal, Business Development & Venture Capital, APAC - Amazon Web Services discussed funding for startups. They tackled how to scale a startup business without going overseas and how to master the art of raising funds from the seed stage to VC stage. Government funding that are available for startups were also explained as well as the modalities of investment in Singapore corporate structure, among many others interesting topics under funding.

The third session featured the winning strategies that startups can employ. Craig Hewett, Co-founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Wego Pte Ltd; Cole Sirucek, Co-Founder & Chairman, DocDoc, and; Adelina Peltea, VP of Marketing, TradeGecko talked about whether founders should step down for full-time CEOs and how startups can win the war for talents. The ins and outs of online marketing were also discussed and how strategy must be refined.

The last session tackled issues about the future of e-commerce. Roger Egan, Founder, RedMart; Renée Lodens, Founder & Managing Director, Travelshopa; Nicole Fall, CEO, Asian Consumer Intelligence, and; Alexia Sichere, Founder & Managing Director, Foxysales

Around 120 attendees and founders flocked into the event to participate.

The event is supported by Singapore Startup Club, The Hub Singapore, YoungUpstart, Startup Jobs, SiTF 123Jumpstart, E27, PrimeTime, Plug-in @ Blk71 & Spring Singapore.