To cater to Chinese tourists and business travellers who visit the city-state annually, the JV will develop digital marketing tools to enable merchants in Singapore
Singapore-based fin-tech firm Aleta Planet has made an announcement today about forming a joint venture (JV) firm with software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution start-up firm Fooyo. The JV, named as AP Studios, in order to target Chinese tourists once COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted, will offer digital marketing tools and ecommerce solutions for Singaporean businesses.
More than 3 million people from mainland China travelled to Singapore in 2019 before the pandemic led to closing of borders.
To cater to Chinese tourists and business travellers who visit the city-state annually, the JV will develop digital marketing tools to enable merchants in Singapore. The tools are expected to provide a more interactive payment experience and engage customers through WeChat’s marketing platform in China.
Digital marketing tools such as payment checkout webpages, chatbots, WeChat and Alipay mini programs, crowd-control monitoring solutions, and interactive tourism apps are expected to be developed by the new business. For merchants, the can be customized in retail, medical, education, tourism, government, and other industries.
Aleta Panet, founded in 2014, facilitates cross-border payments to and from China. For financial institutions and corporations, the company specializes in end-to-end technology solutions. In China and in 179 markets globally, the firm connects merchants to the UnionPay network. UnionPay International offers cross border, multicurrency transactions.
Primarily focusing on the retail, tourism, and hospitality sectors, Singapore-based Fooyo was founded in 2014 as a SaaS solution company. To engage with visitors and enhance their online and offline experiences, the company uses AI-powered digital marketing tools (digitalization tools) for destinations and merchants.
Fooyo says it is one of only three WeChat mini program developers outside China – and the first in Singapore – certified by Tencent Academy and Tencent CEO Ma Huateng. Chinese gaming titan Tencent is the parent company of WeChat.
Li Shaohuan, co-founder of Fooyo will head AP Studios as managing director of the solutions team under the Aleta Planet Group.
Both companies, in their joint statement, said, businesses belonging to the WeChat ecosystem can potentially reach over 1.26 billion monthly active users -mostly mainland Chinese – and at least 1 million Singapore residents.
“Many of our clients have expressed the need for an all-in-one solution that will grow their digital presence in China. This venture will provide them with a holistic and comprehensive ecommerce solution to achieve their targets more efficiently”, said Ryan Gwee, founder and group chairman of Aleta Planet.
According to Gwee, the joint venture is part of the company’s growth strategy to expand beyond payments and cover other services related to checkout and digital marketing tools as well as customer experience and engagement.
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