Will you take the cake?

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Hello reader,

Conflict resolution is hard, which partially explains why lawyers get paid so well.

Some friends and I recently had to try and mend some old wounds with an opponent in the amateur football league I’m part of. In the end, we weren’t entirely successful in getting everyone to leave the past in the past, but I still learned a thing or two.

We went in with an olive branch extended but were also politely firm about the red lines we couldn’t cross, which I think was a good approach. I also learned that despite the best intentions of everyone involved, some things can’t be fixed.

It seems two of the co-founders of Cake Group might be a little closer to resolving their conflict, with former CTO U-Zyn Chua thinking of purchasing the crypto firm outright. It likely wasn’t easy to get to this point, but the question remains as to how badly both sides want to put this whole saga to bed.

Today we look at:

• The latest legal twist in the Cake Group saga
• Another quarter in the black for PropertyGuru
• Other newsy highlights such as East Ventures and Temasek Foundation kicking off the second edition of their climate tech competition, and Wise pausing support for its e-wallet in Indonesia.

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Taking the cake?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

After asking the Singapore High Court to wind up the company in December 2023, former Cake Group CTO U-Zyn Chua is mulling buying the firm.

At a recent court hearing, a potential deal was announced, which would see Chua buy out the crypto firm’s CEO and co-founder Julian Hosp’s interest in the company.

• Why can’t we be friends?: The deal, whose terms weren’t announced, could end months of in-fighting between Chua and Hosp, which began after a round of layoffs at the firm in November last year. Chua said he was opposed to the layoffs and claimed that Hosp carried out the job cuts unilaterally. Soon after, Chua filed the winding-up application and resigned from his post.
• Boom to bust: Cake Group enjoyed a meteoric rise, with revenue and operating income hitting US$631 million and US$203 million, respectively, in 2021. However, as with much of the crypto market, the demise of Terra Labs in 2022 hit Cake Group hard, with revenue falling by more than half to US$266 million and profit down to US$23.5 million.
• Mistakes were made: In an email sent to employees last November, Hosp said the company grew its costs too quickly and underestimated the impact of the crypto market slowdown. He is resisting the winding-up application.

Read more: Cake Group CEO offers to sell stake to former CTO in court hearing

Home sweet home and profit sweet profit

Founders, meet your next potential investor on May 30

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