Singaporean food lovers in New York should thank KF Seetoh. Seetoh is an old boy of SJI or St Joseph’s Institution. He was a photographer with The Straits Times. He later became a food critic and moved to New York to put Singapore’s hawker centre on the world stage.
In the autumn of 2022, Seetoh opened New York’s first hawker centre. Urban Hawker is a few blocks away from Broadway. It is just like Lau Pa Sat, except it is not open-air.
Like roti prata and Singapore Sling, hawker centres are among this island’s great inventions. It provides a wide range of food at cheap prices. The government subsidises the rents of hawker centres.
Urban Hawker has prospered. The queue at lunchtime is longer than at Lau Pa Sat. The customers are as diverse as the cuisine. The diners range from Greenland to New Zealand, giving the hawker centre the same feel as the United Nations.
The chilli crab is as spicy as that at Newton hawker centre. Its pricing has been a clincher. You can also get a plate of chicken rice for US$5.50 ($7.39), which is excellent value by New York standards. In comparison, Singapore’s own hawker centres are even cheaper.
Urban Hawker is not only option for New Yorkers to get a piece of Singapore. There are at least 14 Singaporean tech companies on Nasdaq. Many of them are trading below their fair value. A couple are trading below net cash.
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Singaporean tech founders are drawn to New York not just for the cuisine. They are attracted by the depth and prestige of America’s capital market.
In December 2021, Grab raised US$4 billion through the largest spac deal ever. Smaller tech companies have followed suit.
The 14 companies have raised combined proceeds of over US$1 billion in the last three years. The funding includes spac proceeds. They include PropertyGuru, DigiAsia, MoneyHero, Ryde and Simpple. All of them have performed poorly.
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MoneyHero Group is the latest on the list. The financial products platform was listed through a spac in November. The company is a pathbreaker in fintech. The MoneyHero platform compares and recommends personal loans, insurance and credit cards. It is an app that guides personal finance decisions. It is like an online guide to personal finance.
MoneyHero collects fees from credit card companies every time a user signs up. The fee is about US$118 per approved user. The company has 10 million users in Asean with an average revenue per user of US$8. Its revenue has risen by nearly 50% in the last five years.
It raised US$100 million in a Nasdaq listing through a de-spac. Its investors include Li Ka Shing’s son Richard Li and Californian tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
MoneyHero’s growth and distinct model have attracted wide attention although Nasdaq’s investors have ignored it. In the seven months since its listing, MoneyHero is down 84%. The drop took place soon after the champagne bottles were uncorked in November. It has floundered since then. It is among the worst performers among the de-spac fiascoes.
It is now trading at US$62 million, which is equal to its net cash. Its cash burn may have been US$17 million in FY2023. At that rate, the net cash balance could fund the company for another four years. The street expects it to become cashflow positive by this year.
MoneyHero’s collapse seems unfair for other reasons. It has trimmed its operating expenses by over 30% last year. The monetisation measures of its 10m users have increased. They are moving from credit card comparisons to insurance.
Insurance is a vast, untapped market. Less than 10% of Asean travellers have travel insurance. Investors may be able to catch MoneyHero on the verge of a turnaround.
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MoneyHero’s debacle on Nasdaq, despite strong cashflow prospects, is common. TDCX, a Singapore-based tech outsourcing company, raised US$349 million in 2021. It was trading close to net cash. It lost 70% of its value but was privatised at a premium.
OhmyHome and Simpple are property tech companies on Nasdaq. Simpple is down 80% since its listing. OhmyHome has performed as poorly. The management of both companies are confident of imminent ebitda positivity. Chicken rice may not be the only trade in the Big Apple.
Nirgunan Tiruchelvam is head of consumer and internet at Aletheia Capital and author of Investing in the Covid Era. He does not hold any position in the stocks mentioned in this column. This column does not constitute investment advice of any kind.
