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Startup Story

Quest Ventures has provided undisclosed seed funding to South Korean startup Dolbomdream, which specializes in developing IoT-powered hugging vests. The investment aims to support Dolbomdream’s expansion into Southeast Asia. According to Kim Jihun, CEO of Dolbomdream, the collaboration with Quest Ventures is pivotal for the company’s expansion plans in Southeast Asia. He emphasized the importance of building networks with local partners and conducting pilot tests to ensure successful integration of their products in the regional market.

Dolbomdream’s flagship product is the smart HUGgy vest, designed to incorporate research-backed Deep Touch Pressure technology. This technology simulates the effect of hugs on wearers, offering psychological comfort. The vests analyze wearers’ biometric data to provide real-time analysis of their psychological status through a dedicated app. Additionally, caregivers can activate the vest through the app.

The target customer base for Dolbomdream’s hugging vests includes special needs individuals, seniors, sleep disorder patients, and anyone who might benefit from the therapeutic power of a hug. Specifically, the product is beneficial for individuals with conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), helping them cope with heightened stress levels.

The hugging vest features non-contact biometric sensors to measure the wearer’s heart rate and other biometric data. This data is transmitted to caregivers through the dedicated app, enabling them to monitor the wearer’s psychological condition in real-time. Moreover, caregivers can remotely activate the vest using the app.

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KrASIA

Dolbomdream, a South Korean company specializing in the production of a compression garment supporting individuals with special needs, has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Quest Ventures.

Known as Huggy (stylized as “HUGgy”) vests, Dolbomdream’s product is aimed at providing benefits to individuals with special needs, particularly those with conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It utilizes a “Deep Touch Pressure” technology to replicate the comforting sensation of hugs, thereby stimulating the wearer’s parasympathetic nervous system to alleviate heightened stress levels. Each Huggy vest is equipped with non-contact biometric sensors to continuously monitor the wearer’s heart rate and other biometric data, enabling caregivers to stay informed in real-time about the wearer’s psychological state. Additionally, the vests can be remotely activated using a complementary app.

“Our collaboration with Quest Ventures is crucial in solidifying our expansion plans in Southeast Asia, which include building our network with local partners and conducting pilot tests to ensure the successful integration of their products in the regional market,” said Kim Jihun, CEO of Dolbomdream.

“[Dolbomdream’s] high-performance vests elevate the standard of care for special needs individuals and provide peace of mind to their caregivers,” said James Tan, managing partner of Quest Ventures.

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Startup Savant

In this guide, we’ll highlight the top venture capital firms in Singapore that aren’t just the finance powerhouses of the region but also have a proven track record of backing the brightest and most innovative startups.

In the next section, we’ll walk through a list of some of the best Singaporean VC firms, picked based on their investment portfolio, successful startups they’ve helped fund, industry focus, and overall reputation.

With an investment focus on the flourishing digital economy across Asia, Quest Ventures stands at the cutting edge of technological innovation. From artificial intelligence to ecommerce, their portfolio shows a diverse range of startups making waves in their respective markets.

Backed by a commitment to social initiatives and industry transformation, Quest Ventures gives startups not just funding but also a platform for creating meaningful impact.

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The Edge Singapore

The cat’s out of the bag: Venture capitalists and savvy investors have uncovered the next booming market — the business of pampering pets.

According to a Bloomberg Intelligence report, the global pet industry is expected to grow to US$500 billion ($670.43 billion) by 2030, from US$320 billion as of March 2023. The growth is attributed to a growing global pet population and the premiumisation of food and services from the humanisation of pets. The US will likely remain the largest pet market in the world, with sales approaching US$200 billion by the end of the decade.

Another report by Morgan Stanley, dated March 3, 2021, notes that the pet sector could become a long-term trend, with the industry expected to reach US$275 billion by 2030 from US$100 billion in 2021.

James Tan, managing partner at Quest Ventures, notes that the demand for pet-related products and services will rise as more people in Southeast Asia see their pets as family members. One of the companies backed by the Asian venture capital firm is ZumVet Singapore, which provides a one-stop service for pets — from veterinary (vet) teleconsultations to test kits and over-the-counter (OTC) medication and accessories.

“The pet industry as a whole has grown. It grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, and by all estimates, did not shrink back to pre-pandemic levels after we emerged from it,” says Tan on the industry’s growth potential.

In his view, all aspects of the pet sector are “interesting”.

“Compelling sub-sectors emerge from time to time, and, depending on factors such as the readiness of technology, prerequisites and adoptions, [there will be] a rapid or slow emergence of these sub-sectors,” he adds.

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Failory

The venture capital ecosystem in Kuala Lumpur has undergone major growth over the last decade.

In this article, you will find some of the top venture capital firms in Kuala Lumpur investing across various sectors and industries.

Quest Ventures joins 500 Startups, Gobi Partners, Cradle Fund, NEXEA Venture Capital, and Acadian Ventures as the “top 6 venture capital firms in Kuala Lumpur”.

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Vietcetera

In this interview, Kow Juan Tiang, Executive Director for Southeast Asia at Enterprise Singapore, talks about the economic trends post-pandemic, the role of technology in SEA’s future, sustainable growth initiatives, and the unique opportunities and challenges for businesses in the region. We’re unraveling the collaborative efforts between Vietnam and Singapore, their joint strides toward sustainability, and the exceptional business prospects on the horizon.

In Vietnam, we have witnessed successful partnerships between Singapore and Vietnamese companies following the launch of our Vietnam GIA Acceleration Programme in 2019, in collaboration with Quest Ventures. Sixty-three Singapore-based startups participated in eight cohorts of the Vietnam GIA Acceleration Programme from 2020 to 2023. Since then, 18 Singapore startups have either established a presence in Vietnam or formed collaborations with in-market partners. One notable example is myFirst, a company that develops technology gadgets for children, including wireless earbuds, headphones, smartwatch phones, instant print cameras, and drawing tablets. These products aim to revolutionize how children learn and play through the safe use of technology. After myFirst participated in the sixth cohort of the Vietnam GIA Acceleration Programme, it has established its business in Hanoi and is selling its products in the market through two Vietnamese distributors.

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Tech in Asia

In 2019, Hoang Van Dung lost his right hand after a work-related explosion. Today, the 29-year-old is a TikToker with over 261,000 followers, producing mostly humorous short-form videos that showcase his ability to navigate life with just one hand.

His recovery journey has been strongly tied to Vulcan Augmetics, the Vietnamese startup that built his prosthetic arm.

As one of its earliest users, Hoang has become the marketing face of the company. In one video, he shows off his push-up skills using the prosthetic arm, and in another, he does arm wrestling, though only for fun.

“We do deeptech, the hardware and software, and we’re doing it right here in Vietnam,” Rafael Masters, CEO and co-founder of Vulcan Augmetics, tells Tech in Asia in an interview. “It’s very difficult to get local VC firms to take a look.”

In October, Vulcan raised a seed round from Quest Ventures. The five-year-old startup has ambitions to expand overseas, targeting markets like India and the Middle East. It also aims to go beyond prosthetics and develop wearable technologies.

“Our goal is to be the global leader in body-mounted sensor and control systems, applicable to any wearable device,” he says. “This includes industrial uses like factory exo-suits, medical uses such as remote care, and commercial use cases such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).”

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The Business Times

ANGEL investors are still making fresh bets on early-stage startups across South-east Asia, drawn by opportunities in up-and-coming sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs), as well as attractive valuations. This is despite the ongoing “tech winter” where institutional investors have tightened their purse strings.

“Downturns are the best time to angel invest. My best angel investments today were made in the early days of the recovery from the Great Recession,” said James Tan, a longtime angel investor whose post-2008 bets include classifieds platform Carousell Group and proptech startup 99 Group (99.co | Rumah123 | SRX) .

In the current tech winter, Tan is bullish on opportunities in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. He is also looking into climate and sustainability challenges that are addressable by startups.

Tan, who is also managing partner at venture capital firm Quest Ventures, sees other angel investors being active.

“Wealthy individual investors are stepping up. Without the constraints of rigid fund structures, these angel investors are able deploy faster at current attractive valuations,” he said.

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DealStreetAsia

“As more people in Southeast Asia humanise their pets as family members, demand for pet-related products and services will rise,” commented James Tan, Managing Partner at Quest Ventures, which led a $3.7-million Series A round in Singapore-based petcare startup ZumVet last year.

“Technology will play a crucial role in making petcare business attractive to institutional capital. The humanisation of pets will drive improvements in pet care, increase in adoption of mobile apps for pet services, adoption of telemedicine for pets, and even IoT devices for monitoring and tracking pets,” Quest Ventures’s Tan told DealStreetAsia.

“We generally favour businesses that have the potential for scalability and replicability across cities,” he said.

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Channel NewsAsia

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. As the BRI continues to evolve, opportunities for Singapore remain in the areas of infrastructure expertise and legal services and are emerging in green innovations, green financing sectors. In the next decade, how can Singapore continue to tap on its strengths as a global trading, innovation, financial and legal hub to forge its own paths in the BRI?

“For large businesses, it might seem easier for them to capitalize on the doors that will be opened through the BRI but that’s not to say that opportunities do not exist for small businesses and startups too. Singapore has created a very solid base of entrepreneurs who are willing to take risk and willing to address hard problems and dedicate time and energy to it,” says James Tan, Managing Partner.

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