After reading about many promising startups from behind the screen everyday, it’s refreshing to get out and actually put a face to these minds once in awhile. We’re lucky we get to do that at least thrice a year at our Tech in Asia conferences at the Bootstrap Alley segment, which showcases a curated crowd of startups.
Here’s a recap of our favorite exhibiting startups from this year, starting from the most recent conference.
Tech in Asia Jakarta 2015
Glints
Glints is a Singapore-based startup that wants to empower young talents to build up their career-readiness through practical, real-world experience.
Not just your regular job site, candidates will receive a set of recommended career choices upon identifying their interests. Each career option comes with a skill tree that shows relevant projects, internships and courses, to acquire skills needed for the job.
The trio of founders are one of the youngest in Southeast Asia to have raised venture capital funding from a slew of investors including East Ventures, 500 Startups, Infocomm Investments, and SPH Media Fund.
Purely B
Malaysia’s Purely B wants to be the answer for adults striving to lead a healthy lifestyle. Its one-stop portal aggregates information on how to achieve healthy living with information on restaurants and health product retailers, bespoke meal planning and fitness programs, and lifestyle tips for the health-conscious.
The startup has recently closed a US$500K seed round, led by 500 Startups.
The full list of startups that caught our eye over November 11 and 12 can be found here.
Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015
PossessedHand
If the name didn’t pique your curiosity before, the demonstration of the device by two researchers from Tokyo University would have definitely drawn you in. One researcher was seated, with her hand strapped to numerous wires and eyes closed (to prevent cheating), and the other tapping away at a keyboard to control the former’s hand movements.
By applying electrical stimuli to muscles around the forearm, PossessedHand can hijack the motion of up to 16 joints in the hand.
While it was created with the intention of helping users learn how to play musical instruments, more useful and important applications such as helping those suffering from a stroke mimic mobility have surfaced.
Nexpaq
The winner from our Hong Kong leg of the Tech in Asia tour, this startup perpetually had a crowd around its booth thanks to its unique offering. Nexpaq is a modular smartphone case that lets users seamlessly customize, enhance, and add new functions to existing smartphones through the use of small components.
The friendly team from Nexpaq demonstrated how easy it was to snap add-ons to your smartphone and transform it to a temperature and humidity sensor, an SD card reader, and so on.
EYES
EYES attracted many curious stares with its product, Fukushima Wheel, that reinvents cycling with a specially outfitted bicycle. The product uses sensors to measure environmental data in your city like humidity, temperature, and even radiation. Its smartphone app offers a unique opportunity to explore the city, letting cyclists visualize their exercise levels and carbon emissions. Gyro-stabilized LEDs on the bicycle wheels also display time and location-based information.
The prototype on display invited many to try it out for themselves.
Here’s a list of startups that stood out at the Tokyo conference this year.
Tech in Asia Singapore 2015
uHoo
While Southeast Asia was battling haze this year, one product that came to mind was uHoo.
The stylish device monitors air pollution levels inside your home, and is sensitive to temperature, particulate matter, airborne chemicals, humidity and carbon dioxide levels. With the use of an accompanying mobile app, you can get notifications when the air around you becomes unhealthy, and rectify accordingly. This is especially useful for people suffering from conditions like asthma.
Nuren
Nuren was created to help couples discover inspiration, search for vendors, and shop online through a visual search engine. By aggregating information on merchants in one place, the Malaysia-based startup hopes to help people make educated and informed decisions when planning for their wedding.
Join us at Bootstrap Alley
If you’re looking to make a lasting impression – whether on your users, potential investors or future business partners, look no further. Bootstrap Alley at Tech in Asia Singapore 2016, happening on April 12-13, offers the perfect opportunity for your startup to move out of the virtual realm and meet them face-to-face to make a difference with a personal touch.
Applications are on a rolling basis, and booth passes are currently going at a juicy 20 percent off when you register before January 28.
If like us, you’re excited at the prospects of meeting over 300 up-and-coming startups in person, join us at Tech in Asia Singapore 2016. The 20 percent promotion applies to all passes as well (code: tiasg20), when you get them before January 28!
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Editing by Osman Husain and Steven Millward
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