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Collin Furtado · · 7 min read

An unknown firm’s $583m valuation sent us digging

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Hi there,

I love sports movies. Some of my favorites include Remember the Titans, Goal, Hustle, and Any Given Sunday.

However, what tops my list is Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Unlike other movies in its genre, it didn’t have the usual tropes: motivational speeches by the coach and eleventh-hour comebacks by the underdogs. But what piqued my interest the most was the realistic depiction of professional sports today.

These days, professional sports – whether on or off the field – works similarly to how a business functions. That’s why numbers and especially projections are important for stakeholders in the field to let them know their odds of winning a game or the season.

When a company makes a decision to go public, the projections also come under the lens of regulators, investors, and the public. That’s why when an unknown Singapore healthtech firm called Euda Health announced its US$583 million IPO plans via a merger with a blank-check firm, my colleague, Nikita, decided to take a closer look in this week’s Big Story.

It turns out, the CEO of the SPAC was already a shareholder of Euda, presenting a potential conflict of interest. The firm and its revenue projections also raised a lot of concerns. A US law firm eventually launched an investigation into the SPAC deal.

A few months later, after Tech in Asia first reached out to Euda about the SPAC announcement, the firm lowered its valuation by 70% and also revised its revenue projections. What’s more is that for a healthtech firm, the company’s biggest revenue contributor till 2020 was from property management services.

While Euda’s numbers may raise red flags, the figures of upskilling edtech firms are seeing some positive signs. A large number of hires, along with strong user growth and a rise in revenue, seem to indicate that the edtech segment is riding high during the recession. My colleague Shadine notes this and more in this week’s Making Waves.

— Collin


THE BIG STORY

An unknown Singapore healthtech firm’s dubious $583m valuation

Image credit: Timmy Loen

After significantly revising revenue projections and delaying expansion plans, Euda Health slashed its valuation by 70.5% just months before its Nasdaq listing.


MAKING WAVES

Upskilling finds growth amid layoffs


FYI


NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW


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TIA Writer

Collin Furtado

Emerging tech editor at TIA who covers startup sectors as AI, EVs, climatetech, agritech, healthtech, and others. His work comprises of investigative stories, profiles, and visual/data pieces.