5 Bootstrap Alley startups that stole the show at Tech in Asia Singapore 2016

It’s been more than 30 hours since we opened doors to Southeast Asia’s largest tech conference. This year, we had 200 aspiring startups exhibit at Bootstrap Alley. Didn’t have enough time to look through all of them?

Don’t worry. We’ve helped you do that, and came up with a list of those that caught our eye. Enjoy the list!

Most Enticing Booth: Qi Aerista

Making great tasting tea takes time, knowledge, and expertise. With Qi Aerista, you can make precise controls to customise the taste of tea to your own preference. In essence, you can brew and savour just about any tea in the simplest way possible.

For the hardware startup, what better way to convince than to have the real deal available? Their tea apparatus which is pending its patent, was functional and on show – a great pull to attract footfall to their booth. No one could reject a piping hot cup of tea to soothe the nerves amidst crazy schedules at the conference. We tried a cold-pressed lemon tea freshly made on the spot, and it was yummy!

Most Engaging Booth: Octagon

If you sat in on Tech in Asia Singapore 2016’s developer stage, we’re sure you’d know about Octagon. The multimedia VR and AR startup attracted many eyeballs with their engaging demonstrations, wowing startups and investors alike.

Visitors at the booth got to try it out for themselves, by colouring stuff on paper and making them come to live on screen with Octagon’s 3D effects via the app. Super cool!

Most Decorated Booth: Cafebond

Situated in the middle of other exhibitors at Bootstrap Alley, Cafebond’s booth could have been easily missed in the crowd, if not for their elaborate setup. It looks like an unassuming booth, that is until you come closer to find out what this startup is about – a platform that allows users to shop for the world’s best coffee brands in one place.

We were impressed by their thoughtful props, arranged with an artistic flair (as you would see in a modern cafe). There were even coffee beans arranged on the table – ‘A’ for effort! The only thing we thought missing was the smell of coffee and actual taste of it, of which would complete the entire experience.

Most Coordinated Team: Otter

It’s hard to miss the Otter trio when all three of them were coordinated in bright green, to match their similarly coloured booth. Otter is on a mission to address the inconvenience of renting bicycles from Singapore, while allowing bike owners the opportunity to make pocket money from renting out under-utilized bikes.

There was an unmistakable air of enthusiasm from the fresh faced trio who are still schooling in university – kudos to the young entrepreneurs!

Most Hands-on Booth: GamesWare

It’s hard to miss this startup. Although there’s nothing colour-popping about their booth, you’ll be sure to give GamesWare, a laser tag sword, a second look. Our attendees were even game enough to try a demo, and were spotted wildly swinging the sword around. Thankfully, no one got hurt!

Missed out on #tiasg2016 highlights? Follow us on social media to catch up on the latest happenings. With our fifth flagship conference fast coming to an end, we’re set to conquer our next one – Tech in Asia Bangalore 2016 on July 6 and 7.

Woman in tech? Remember to register for your complimentary pass to our inaugural Bangalore conference.