Hi everyone. Taro here.
Elon Musk has been getting a lot of press recently because of his acquisition of Twitter and the subsequent dip in Tesla’s share price, causing a huge ruckus across online discourse channels. This makes one realize the internet is fast becoming the domain for the rich, while the original vision of a free utopia of expression is slowly eroding. Is Web3 the answer? Perhaps. Is a reversion back to handwritten letters and telegrams on the cards? I truly hope not, although vinyl records becoming the norm would be great.
Open Run
This week, we’re looking at startups that are creating the next iteration of food in New Zealand, originally highlighted by Future Food Aotearoa.
AgriSea NZ Seaweed uses New Zealand-harvested seaweed to create products for agriculture, horticulture, apiculture, and home gardening.
Ārepa worked with neuroscientists to develop drinks that improve cognitive performance, using all-natural ingredients.
Boring Oat Milk produces milk using locally sourced oats.
Chia Sisters makes drinks that use natural ingredients with its solar-powered juicery.
Daisy Lab uses precision fermentation technology to develop a much more environmentally friendly process for creating dairy protein.
Leaft Foods develops green plant proteins using rubisco proteins extracted from green leaves.
The Pure Food Co provides a range of food products designed to cater to the nutritional needs of senior citizens.
Nothing But Net
Recent Startup Wins
- The Visa Accelerator Program revealed five startups that will join its latest cohort: Cymonz, Moneytree, Perfios, TallyKhata, and TripleA.
- Metaverse Green Exchange announced a new partnership with OCBC to develop green financing solutions on its digital token platform.
- Singaporean blockchain accelerator Tribe is partnering with the Algorand Foundation to run a number of new programs starting in June.
- Luno received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to provide crypto payment services in Singapore.
Pick & Roll
Interesting Drops From the Week
- Deal Fridays, organized by Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is back to connect startups, investors, and corporates. [via Enterprise Singapore]
- Fidelity has announced it will begin to allow US employees to choose to save a portion of their 401(k) as Bitcoin. [via The Verge]
- One-time pandemic golden child Robinhood announced it is cutting 9% of its workforce. [via Reuters]
- Here’s an interesting op-ed on the “winner’s curse” that can affect VCs with their investments. [via HBR]
If you are a startup that is raising funds, or have an interesting story or lead for us to feature in this newsletter, please fill out this form.