Singapore, Singapore Dec 7, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Singapore-based Whizpace Pte Ltd today announced its subsidiary in China — Whizpace (Suzhou) Co Ltd has secured RMB 6 million (around S$1.2 million) funding to expand its business in China, out of which RMB 3 million is a grant from the Suzhou government and another RMB 3 million is invested by a Chinese angel investor.
Whizpace’s plan to enter into China began as early as 2017 when China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Group Co. Ltd. (CSSD) brought Whizpace to visit Suzhou and explore various opportunities with government and private sectors. “We identified that Whizpace has good technology that China may need, and there is a big potential of their Super Wi-Fi technology to capture the huge market in China,” said Bernard Teo, General Manager of CSSD, Singapore Office.
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) launched the A*STAR Partners’ Centre (A*PC) at SIP on 18 November 2020, to support Singapore companies in establishing a presence in China. Whizpace is one of the Singapore enterprises that the A*PC is supporting.
Prof Tan Sze Wee, Assistant Chief Executive, Enterprise, A*STAR, said, “The A*STAR Partners’ Centre in Suzhou will help businesses in both Singapore and China to explore new market opportunities and leverage each other’s networks and expertise. We are pleased that the A*PC is able to help local enterprises like Whizpace gain a foothold internationally and look forward to further success stories.”
Whizpace’s Founder Dr Oh Ser Wah is also the only founder in the cohort being conferred the title of “Tech Pioneer” in Suzhou by the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee. “I was told the Tech Pioneer title is a prestigious title given to a very small percentage of applicants coming from all over the world. As Suzhou is a role-model city in China, this title is also well recognized by other cities in China. I hope this will help us to open doors in other Chinese cities more easily,” said Dr Oh Ser Wah, Founder and CEO, Whizpace Pte Ltd.
Whizpace offers TV White Space (TVWS) Super Wi-Fi solution where TVWS taps into unused TV bands for wireless communications. These bands have excellent propagation characteristics that allow wireless signals to travel up to 10 km and penetrate through obstacles, thus saving time and cost of network deployments by up to 90%. Whizpace’s solutions have been piloted by Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (Govtech) to connect remote islands as far as 10km apart and deployed in US MNC factories as the backbone network for Industry 4.0.
Leveraging on their successes in Industry 4.0 in Singapore, Whizpace is ready to capture the huge market in China. “There are 3.65 million factories in China, out of which 380,000 are sizeable ones. In line with the Chinese government’s Smart Manufacturing 2025 Initiative, many factories are looking for solutions to connect their factories. Whizpace’s advantages over other solutions are well suited to address this huge market,” said Johnny Zhu, CEO, Whizpace (Suzhou) Co Ltd, an industry veteran with background in factory automations.
Convinced by the competitive advantages of Whizpace’s solutions, an angel investor who also owns factories, invested the first round of RMB 3 million funding into Whizpace (Suzhou) to help Whizpace capture the market in China. “We are happy that although our Suzhou office was just started right before COVID-19, we quickly attracted attention from customers and investors. With the new fund raised, the China subsidiary will accelerate our team and business expansion,” added Dr Oh.
Whizpace’s headquarter in Singapore is currently raising another $2-3 million to ramp up the team and develop products to address the strong upcoming pipelines. The round is expected to close in Q1 2021.
Whizpace is also exhibiting under A*STAR Village @ SWITCH, Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology, from 7thto 11thDecember 2020.
About Whizpace:
Whizpace provides wireless communication solutions by harnessing the underutilized TVWS spectrum. Using our innovative technology, we are able to efficiently leverage the spectrum to generate “Super Wi-Fi” that can be transmitted over long distances and penetrate through obstacles at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies.
We have successfully deployed the solutions to bring internet access to remote areas such as offshore islands and palm oil plantations, enabling video surveillance and estate management as well as connect equipment and devices in factories to enable Industry 4.0. Our solution is an enabler to connect the 3 billion people that are unconnected, while also addressing the huge opportunities in IoT and smart city markets.
Company Website: http://www.whizpace.com
About CSSD
China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park Development Group Co., Ltd. (CSSD) was jointly developed by the governments of China and Singapore in August 1994. As the main urban developer and the platform for Sino-Singapore cooperation, CSSD has made great contributions to the development of Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP). In 2019, CSSD was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
* All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
Media Contact
Whizpace Pte Ltd info@whizpace.com +6567777220 http://whizpace.com
