E27’s writer, Joanna Yeo digs into the up and coming startups exhibited at Startup Asia Singapore 2012.

Penn Olson’s first tech conference

Penn Olson held it’s first tech event, Startup Asia Singapore on 2^nd and 3^rd February 2012 at Singapore Post Centre. Early stage investors, entrepreneurs alike gathered to checkout newly launched and product-ready Asian tech startups as they showcased their products and services. The 2-day event was into 3 main portions: 1. Coffee chats between Willis Wee, founder of Penn Olson, and entrepreneurs and investors, 2. Startup Arena- Launchpad/ Battlefield where hopeful startups launch and vie to win the attractive USD10,000 (and many more attractive prizes) and 3. Exhibitions by startups in the region.

Observing the trends

As I explored the exhibition area of 40-odd Asian startups, majority hailing from Singapore, Japan and Indonesia, I observed an obvious similarity or shall I say, ‘trend’, of startups in the SoLoMo (and SoMo) space.

A lot of the exhibiting businesses are set to create (another) social marketing mobile (and web) platform network that focuses on helping brands and companies get their word out by tapping on the community’s viral ability.

The following are some of such startups.

A peek into the some of the Startups following the social marketing trend

Gushcloud

Earn monetary rewards by promoting brands on social networks

Gushcloud's CEO, Vincent Ha pitching at Startup Arena

Gushcloud is social media platform that allows anyone with a message or marketing need to connect with an online target audience and reward them for promoting the message on social networks or performing marketing tasks such as completing a survey.

Since my last interview (view here) with Gushcloud’s founders, Althea and Vincent in December 2011, Gushcloud has introduced more new and awesome features. Besides simple tasks like tweeting, liking/ sharing a Facebook post, companies can now tap on Gushcloud’s strong to get more downloads for their mobile apps, installs for a web application and checkins to an event or location. Their mobile app version will be coming out soon in March 2012.

Note: Don’t try to be funny by thinking you getaway by gushing indefinitely and then removing your Facebook posts/ likes/ shares. You will first receive an email warning from the team. And, if you do try to remove or hide your posts again, Gushcloud will reclaim your rewards.

P.S. Ok, I admit. I’ve tried it. :/

Pointpal

Mobile loyalty card solution

First launched in Australia, Pointpal, a loyalty solution for both merchants and users on a mobile platform recently made its way to Singapore. Available as a free mobile app on both iphone and android- based phones, Pointpal is mobile wallet app that enables merchants to reach out to their consumers as well as Pointpal members.

Noah from Pointpal gave a demo on how easy to use the app was.  The QR code detection was instant (probably due to my awesome Note too).  Pretty user-friendly, I’d say. Currently, users will have to visit Pointpal’s website to get and add the loyalty e-cards from participating merchants to their app. It would be great though if these can be searched and added directly from the app.

Ravesquare

Mobile buffet restaurants and discounts aggregator

Ravesquare's co-founder, Meng Kiat (center) with e27's Writer, Joanna at Startup Asia

Local startup, Ravesquare founded by Henry, Meng Kiat and Bryan launched their first mobile app (the initial alpha version of Ravesquare), Buffet Mania a month ago and made it to the number 1 spot for lifestyle category and number 2 spot for most downloaded app within 10 days of its launch date.

Buffet Mania, as the name suggests, is the app for food lovers to find buffet restaurants based on cuisine types, ratings and credit card discounts.  The in-app calling feature allows you to make reservations by calling from the app itself. Spoilt for choices and undecided on what to eat? Shake your phone and let the app recommend a good, hearty buffet to eat.

Buffet Mania is currently only available in iOS.  Wait up for more updates and its android version.

Gspot pitching at Startup Arena

Gspot

Enjoy discounts by promoting brands on social networks

Another local startup in the social marketing scene is Gspot. Founded by duo,  Kent Hoie and Timothy Ee, Gspot is a web cum mobile application that helps brands to market online through social media marketing.

Gspot allows users to enjoy discounts by simply sharing on social networks like Facebook via its web or mobile app. By tapping on the online community of gspot users and their extended network, Gspot helps brands to go viral online.

With a limited quantity and time to get and use the gspots (discount e-coupons), the concept seems pretty similar to that of a deals site. But unlike your usual deals site, no form of payment is required on the consumers’ part to enjoy the offers and privileges.

SoLoMo in action

With the increasing competition in the SoLoMo space, it is definitely a hard and tough world out there for these startups! Barriers to entry seem pretty low for these ventures and thus can be easily replicated (or are already done) by others. Differentiation, speed and a great understanding of users’ needs are definitely important for success and survival in this competitive space.

For companies and brands, this probably spells good news (or more headache not knowing which to use) for more alternative marketing avenues. Online marketing channels are no longer restricted to ad placements and google adwords.  With a rising smartphone adoption rate and social media-engaged users, companies should consider looking into SoMoLo or SoMo marketing options to tap on the virality that the online community can generate.

Read here for our coverage on the participants at Startup Arena!