Keeping the momentum: how Anywheel won the bike-sharing war in Singapore

This week's On the Rise delves into Anywheel's success mantra, a solopreneur on his way to earning a million, and OpenAI's Sora. [Read from your browser]( On the Rise 🚀 Welcome to On the Rise! Delivered every Tuesday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in emerging tech. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - Anywheel’s [success story]( - A solopreneur making millions through [Notion templates]( - OpenAI’s new text-to-video model Hello {NAME} , Recently, I went shopping with someone for a mutual friend’s wedding. We stumbled upon a bike shop, which brought back memories of biking to school. We loved cycling! We almost bought bikes right then before we realized: “Where are we going to use them?” We couldn’t think of a single place where we could go by cycling without worrying about someone stealing them. It’s hard enough to find safe parking spaces for cars and motorcycles in most Indian cities, let alone bikes. [The problem of theft]( - along with other major issues - led Ofo, one of the bike-sharing platforms in India, to exit the country, which caused major layoffs. But in Singapore, Anywheel, which started during the same time as Ofo but on a much smaller scale, has not only survived but thrived. In this week’s first Big Story, my colleague Putra writes about how Anywheel has become the city’s largest bike-sharing platform. In our second Big Story, my colleague Emmanuel writes about another small player who has made it big. Jason Chin, a solo entrepreneur based out of Singapore, is halfway to earning US$1 million just by selling Notion templates. And for this week’s AI Odyssey, I write about OpenAI’s latest text-to-video offering - Sora - and the potential concerns around it. -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [Anywheel defies odds to survive Singapore’s bike-sharing wars]( Anywheel was around as a relatively small player during bike-sharing’s heyday in Singapore. Now, it’s still standing - despite a lack of VC funds. 2️⃣ [This 22-year-old turns Notion templates into a thriving business]( What started out as a hobby has given Easlo, also known as Jason Chin, a six-figure annual income. Chin is part of the no-code wave, where users build and launch software without learning any coding.  --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY Promising AI projects we’re noticing 60 seconds to trouble: what Sora means for short-form videos Initially hailed as a great innovation, single-use products have become the largest contributor to the global waste crisis. Likewise, I believe generative AI is going to be remembered as the largest contributor of digital trash. According to a recent report by [AWS researchers]( more than half of the content on the internet is machine-generated. Another [report]( says that 90% of digital content will be AI-generated by 2026. The impact can already be felt. Captions, comments, resumes, Tinder profiles - everything has the same generic vibe these days thanks to these large language models. If that wasn't enough, last Thursday, OpenAI went a step further and [launched Sora]( a text-to-video model. If you're thinking Sora is just another addition to models like [Runway ML]( it isn't. Sora is a powerful diffusion model that uses the recaptioning technique (when an AI model rewrites a basic text prompt to be more descriptive, improving the quality of the final output) from OpenAI’s [DALL·E 3](. The model can generate and edit a video after being given simple written prompts. It can even create a video from an image input. In simpler words, Sora is legit. It creates almost believable video content. In the words of a [Reddit user]( “My mind knows this is fake, my eyes know its fake, yet I still can't fully accept that this is fake.” Here's a [video of wooly mammoths]( to prove it. We know what you're thinking: No, it won’t create a full movie if you prompt it with a whole novel. Currently, it only generates videos of up to one minute, like [this one](. But that's where the issue lies. Content makers have garnered millions of followers thanks to 30- to 60-second videos shared on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Like what happened to written content in 2023, it’s only a matter of time before we see a surge in AI-generated video content. And that's not even the scariest issue. Governments globally are grappling with election-related issues [involving deepfakes](. There is also a rise in AI-powered apps that generate [porn from innocent pictures]( of teenagers. With OpenAI's new offering, there is no limit to what can be done if someone wants to manipulate media. Remember last year's [news]( of the Pentagon blast, which actually emerged from fake images generated by AI? That news briefly affected the stock market. Now imagine the same scenario with videos. While OpenAI says it's creating a detection classifier that can distinguish videos generated by Sora, among other things, the head of the DALL·E team [told Wired]( that distinguishing between real and fake content will "need understanding from society and for social media networks to adapt." -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI 1️⃣ [SEA startups need more cheerleaders, less gossiping: 500 Global partner]( Khailee Ng urges a shift in the Southeast Asian startup community, calling for a focus on positivity and support rather than negativity and rumors. He stresses the importance of finding a unique voice instead of blindly following trends. 2️⃣ [The good, the bad, and the hallucinations: What SEA startups think of AI]( Founders in Southeast Asia use genAI in the office for a lot of reasons, but most are still cautious about making it an integral part of their businesses. 3️⃣ [At a crossroads: Indonesia’s elections will decide tech future]( The next administration will face the critical task of shaping policies for social commerce, electric vehicles, and startup development.  --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here]( 1️⃣ [Bot battle]( AI startup Reka has launched Reka Flash, a new language model designed to compete with Google Bard and ChatGPT. The model has multilingual capabilities and demonstrates impressive benchmark performance. 2️⃣ [Singapore shells out for AI ambition]( The city-state has revealed a new S$1 billion (US$742 million) investment into the industry over the next five years. Under the plan, the government aims to boost its local AI talent pool, secure access to chips crucial for AI tasks, and partner with leading companies to build AI centers. 3️⃣ [Supply chain spark]( Metalbook, a B2B metal supply chain platform, has secured US$15 million in series A funding. The round, led by Rigel Capital, positions the Indian company for a target of US$200 million in annualized revenue run rate by the end of the 2024 fiscal year. 4️⃣ [Furry fundraiser]( India-based pet care startup Supertails has secured US$15 million in series B funding to address the needs of first-time pet owners in the country. The company offers a range of services including supplies, vet consultations, and behavioral training. 5️⃣ [Singtel exits]( Singtel Innov8 has divested its entire stake in embattled AI company Vizzio, selling the shares back to the firm's founder. The move comes just four months after the VC firm initially acquired the shares.  --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preference center. See you soon! [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? 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