Why 2015 is a year to remember for Singapore’s startup scene

As the year draws to an end, it is only appropriate to take a look back at some of the trends we noticed in Singapore’s startup scene. Expect a few surprises on this list.

1. The year of online grocery deliveries

While many might have thought that the online grocery delivery war is over, this year we noticed even more online platforms operating in this space – over 30 of them to be exact. However, two particularly stood out with us: PurelyFresh and HonestBee.

Unlike RedMart, the dominant player in this vertical, PurelyFresh focuses on just fresh produce. The team behind it runs five wet and dry markets in Singapore, so customers are guaranteed the freshest produce direct from the wet markets.

HonestBee, on the other hand, has also risen in popularity this year, raising a stunning $15 million in funding to grow its on demand grocery platform beyond Singapore. Unlike RedMart, HonestBee does not hold any inventories. Instead, it dispatches runners to pick up grocery orders for customers.

2. The year of cashback

2014 might be the year of ecommerce, but this year is definitely the year of cashback, with two dominant player in this vertical – ShopBack and EBates. The concept has proven to be popular among online shoppers in Singapore. You shop as you normally would, but do it through cashback sites and earn additional money back to shop further. Other than dedicated cashback sites, we are increasingly seeing banks offering cashbacks to their customers too.

3. The year of logistics

With the growth of ecommerce, logistics-related startups also grew exponentially to help fulfil the logistics demand. Popular startups in this category is Ninja Van, Rocket Uncle and also new rising star FastFast Delivery. Ninja Van is popular among ecommerce companies and corporates, and just over a year since its incorporation, it launched a brand new service earlier this month– Ninja Collect.

Ninja Collect is a self-service delivery method, allowing customers to collect their parcels from automated parcel lockers strategically located in populous and urban sites, as well as from partner retail shops. It raised $2.5M in funding this year.

FastFast Delivery on the other hand, was launched by the Codigo team, which is also the development team behind popular apps such as Comfort Delgro, McDelivery, as well as the DBS Business Class app. With a solid team background, FastFast attracted an angel investment from Elim Chew, the outspoken founder of retail chain 77th Street, as well as Julian Low, cofounder of Zopim, which was acquired by Zendesk.

4. The year of on-demand healthy food

5. The year of taxi-booking

6. The year of carpooling

7. The secret rise of gifting apps

8. The year of resurrections