Structured thinking essential in choosing markets to commercialise in, business leaders say

CEOs from Scale-up SG companies speak at fireside chat

WITH uncertainties looming in US and China, the Asean region is burgeoning with growth potential especially in the area of technology startups - requiring businesses to adopt a structured thinking approach behind the markets they choose to expand into, said a panel of business leaders in a discussion held on Tuesday (May 24).

"As we enter into more commercialisation, we do need structured thinking behind how we choose the market," said Zhou Lihan, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of MiRXES, a Singapore-headquartered biotechnology company.

The Asean region, while previously ignored, now has growth potential, especially in the area of technology startups, he added.

It was only recently that MiRXES began to seriously look at the Asean region because of its capabilities Zhou noted. "Especially this year, there is a big challenge within the US and China, so suddenly Asean becomes a very viable place."

Local private healthcare provider HMI Group tapped the Asean market by entering into a 5-year strategic partnership valued at S$32 million with Siemens Healthineers to advance healthcare delivery in South-east Asia. It also opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur in February 2020 where its digital marketing team is housed.

"An open mind is extremely important, and not being afraid to keep challenging assumptions … looking at complementary markets and industries and seeing what the future could look like," said Chin Wei Jia, CEO of HMI Group.

These comments came as part of a fireside discussion with business leaders from 4 companies during Enterprise Singapore's (EnterpriseSG) Scale-up Ignite event held at Marina Bay Sands. The companies have benefitted from EnterpriseSG's Scale-up SG programme - a 12 to 18-month partnership programme that aims to help aspiring, high-growth companies to scale rapidly and expand abroad.

Since participating in Scale-up, Castlery has reported a more than 6 times increase in revenue, with international orders accounting for 80 per cent of the company's revenue. Staff count has also gone up from 90 in pre-Covid times to 250 staff globally at present.

When the company entered the US in late 2019, it was only covering 2 metropolitan cities; but today it is in over 50 cities with a reach of over 300 million people, said Declan Ee, co-founder and CEO of Castlery, who spoke in the panel.

Ee reiterated the importance of organising a strategy that has a long-term overarching vision with mid-term deliverables.

On how Castlery is quickly tapping into new markets, Ee said: "Going deeper, understanding the mapping of logistics, where the target customer resides, and (then) systemically opening in new markets."

HMI Group's team members, through Scale-up, now understand how to go through a rigorous process before making decisions; and how to put forward a new investment proposal that although unproven is backed with enough data to support it.

An outcome of this was to shift the company's perspective on IT support to look at digital patient strategy. The Scale-up programme also gave HMI Group access to case studies of similar businesses in other markets, especially those adapted in Asia, Chin added.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who was the guest of honour at the event, highlighted that while the government can play a supportive role, ultimately, it must be enterprises that are the vanguard of innovation and growth.

A total of 65 companies have participated in 5 runs of EnterpriseSG's Scale-up SG programme to date. Collectively, they have launched over 50 new ventures, identified 32 new markets, made more than 30 mergers and acquisitions deals, and embarked on over 20 innovative collaborations with one another.

"Beyond the numbers, I am glad that Scale-up SG has catalysed the transformation journeys of many companies," Heng added.

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