Myntra Global launches in Singapore as prelude to broader internationalisation
It targets the city-state's roughly 650,000-strong Indian diaspora, its Singapore edition features over 35,000 shoppable styles across more than 100 homegrown brands, promises four-to-seven-day delivery from India, and is supported by a recent S$124 million capital infusion from its Singapore-based parent.
This latest development signals Myntra's ambition to leverage data-driven insights and cross-border logistics. It seeks to establish a foothold in a mature Southeast Asian market as a prelude to broader global expansion.
Myntra Global represents the Flipkart-owned company's first direct-to-consumer platform outside India. CEO Nandita Sinha highlighted that organic Singapore traffic, estimated at roughly 30,000 monthly visitors, prompted the rollout. Overall, the platform sees 70 million monthly active users.
The Singapore edition aims to cater to the fashion needs of expatriates and diaspora communities, including those linked to Indian festivals, weddings, and everyday wear. It launches with approximately 35,000 styles from over 100 Indian labels, including Aurelia, Global Desi, Libas, W, Anouk, and Chumbak. See also Nas Studios is advertising for the National Youth Council now
This spans apparel, footwear, accessories, and home décor. Orders are shipped directly from India via third-party cross-border logistics, with expected delivery times of four to seven days.
By targeting the Lion City first, Myntra seeks to capture 12% to 15% of the Indian consumer segment in Singapore. The S$124 million capital injection from parent firm FK Myntra Holdings underscores confidence. The funds will be allocated towards investments in marketing, technology, and logistics.
Singapore's mature e-commerce market sees gross merchandise volume projected to reach S$14.12 billion (US$11 billion) in 2025. Local platforms Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora dominate, but niche offerings targeting diaspora tastes remain underserved, and Myntra's catalogue of culturally resonant brands and data analytics capabilities may help it carve a niche.
Myntra views Singapore as a 'launchpad' for refining its global playbook prior to greater internationalisation in Southeast Asia and other markets. The company intends to leverage the template developed in the city state, hinging on seamless delivery, localised customer support, and effective marketing to diaspora networks as a template for further overseas expansion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Cancer biotech firm Hummingbird Bioscience to target inflammatory diseases with precision drugs
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Hummingbird Bioscience recently received an award from the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the UN agency dedicated to innovation and creativity. SINGAPORE – Singapore-headquartered biotech firm Hummingbird Bioscience, known for developing antibodies for cancer, is turning its sights to drugs for immunology and inflammatory diseases, such as lupus and inflammatory bowel disease. It will be adapting antibody-drug conjugates which it developed for cancer treatment to target these diseases. It is now about 12 months to 18 months away from filing regulatory approvals in Asia, Europe and the US to start clinical trials for an undisclosed number of these drugs. These consist of antibodies that have the missile-like ability to seek out specific targets, along with a payload, which is a drug intended to treat a disease. Hummingbird recently received an award from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo), the United Nations agency dedicated to innovation and creativity. At the 2025 Wipo Global Awards held at the organisation's headquarters in Geneva on July 11, it was among 10 small and medium -sized enterprises worldwide that were celebrated for commercialising their intellectual property (IP). 'Hummingbird Bioscience exemplifies how innovative companies can thrive with a well-crafted IP strategy. The company has built a robust IP plan with a strong patents portfolio and a successful licensing-based business model,' said Mr Fu Zhikang, director of IP strategy solutions at Ipos International, a subsidiary of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. The biotech firm is looking to expand its pipeline of products. Its chief scientific officer and co-founder Jerome Boyd-Kirkup told The Straits Times: 'Our mission has been to build the next generation of potentially transformative therapies for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases. 'A large part of that is to have a strong IP portfolio which can underpin that development and ensure that the innovations that are done here in Singapore can be translated globally.' The company's focus for the future will be on immunology and inflammation, said Dr Boyd-Kirkup. These diseases are a group of chronic conditions characterised by a dysregulated immune system leading to inflammation and tissue damage. It is generally believed that up to 10 per cent of the world's population is affected by these conditions, though estimates vary. The therapeutics for immunology and inflammatory diseases have seen keen interest from biopharma companies worldwide – the global market size for this area is projected to grow from US$103 billion (S$132.4 billion) in 2024 to US$257 billion by 2032. In the context of immunology and inflammatory diseases, the target for Hummingbird's antibody-drug conjugates may be immune cells that have become overactive or destructive, and a drug is selected to block the harmful response. Dr Boyd-Kirkup said that current treatments for immunology and inflammatory diseases are usually small molecule drugs such as corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. But the drawbacks of these drugs include concerns around side effects from long-term usage, and a short half-life, which means a drug needs to be taken more often as it does not stay long in the body. These two factors limit the efficacy and long-term treatment that is necessary for the treatment of many of such diseases. 'Antibody-drug conjugates offer a promising solution by enabling the targeted delivery of small molecule drugs, including immunosuppressives, directly to immune cells, thereby improving safety profiles and optimising exposure duration,' said Dr Boyd-Kirkup. The company, which has leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) in its discovery and development cycle for cancer drugs, will also be doing the same for immunology and inflammatory drugs. Immunology and inflammatory diseases are complex and involve many different cell types. In many cases, the places where the damage is occurring are not linked to the cells or processes happening in the area, said Dr Boyd-Kirkup. AI is being used to understand the biological processes involved in such diseases, he added. 'We have used AI to accelerate identification of key target cells and antigens involved in immunology and inflammatory diseases. The immunology and inflammatory antibody-drug conjugates we are working on are targeting key immune cell types involved in disease,' said Dr Boyd-Kirkup. He added that based on the clinical indications and antibody-drug conjugates that the company is looking into, there is a significant unmet clinical need. 'Clinical trials and commercialisation for therapies generally take around a decade. We are also open to the possibility of accelerating the process to the clinic through partnerships and licensing, which may bring in revenue for the company,' said Dr Boyd-Kirkup. In 2026, the company is also set to release results from its Phase 1B clinical trials for one of its key cancer drugs in development, HMBD-001. It is an antibody that targets the HER3 protein driving tumour growth and resistance against cancer drugs, currently being studied in a number of countries, including Singapore. Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we referred to the company's chief scientific officer and co-founder as Mr Boyd-Kirkup. This is incorrect. His correct form of address is Dr Boyd-Kirkup.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
India, Singapore ministers discuss deeper tie-ups in digitalisation, skills, industrial parks
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox – India and Singapore explored deepening their engagement on digitalisation, skills building and industrial parks at a meeting of a key bilateral platform on Aug 13, during Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong's visit to the South Asian state. DPM Gan led a six-member Singapore delegation at the third edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which aims to boost collaboration between the two nations in emerging fields. According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press statement, the two sides reaffirmed the close and longstanding relationship between Singapore and India, underpinned by strong economic and people-to-people ties. They reviewed the good progress since the last meeting in Singapore in 2024, and expressed support for deeper cooperation in a wide range of areas that included sustainability, healthcare and medicine, advanced manufacturing, and connectivity. The ministers also discussed collaboration on cross-border data flows and capital markets via the use of regulatory sandboxes, as well as cooperation on skills training in semiconductors, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and India's national centres of excellence. The other members of the delegation from Singapore were Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng, and Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow. The Indian side was represented by Indian Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, and Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways, and Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw. The visit by Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry, comes ahead of Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's visit to India in early September as the two countries mark 60 years of diplomatic relations. Mr Wong launched the inaugural version of the ISMR during a visit to India in September 2022, when he was deputy prime minister. The second ISMR meeting was held in Singapore in August 2024, ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Republic. India and Singapore are further expanding cooperation at a time of global economic uncertainty brought about by the US' so-called reciprocal tariffs. India, the world's fourth-largest economy, has been on the receiving end of US President Donald Trump's unpredictable levies, which have left many businesses facing a potential 50 per cent tariff. All this has added new urgency for India to expand on existing economic ties with friendly countries like Singapore, noted analysts. 'The external world is changing so much. The Trump effect is beginning to unfold. Singapore has got 10 per cent and India is in a different place, but the need for regional engagement is increasing to limit some of the damage, even for Singapore,' said Professor C. Raja Mohan, visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies. 'At the last roundtable, new ideas had come forward for cooperation in semiconductors and advanced manufacturing. India and Singapore can work together to manage the consequences (of the Trump tariffs on the global economy).' Under the ISMR, the two countries have been working on newer areas of cooperation like semiconductors and green energy while expanding in older areas of cooperation like skills training, where Singapore has helped India set up institutes. A key emerging area of cooperation is in the semiconductor space, where India's bid to boost local manufacturing has opened up opportunities for Singaporean companies, which are looking to new markets. In 2024 , during Mr Modi's visit, Singapore and India signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on semiconductors that would help to facilitate the entry of Singapore companies. This has helped Singapore firms like Cleantech Services, which provides gas and chemical supply equipment and systems used in chip manufacturing, to expand operations in India. Mr Mujeeb Mundayil, managing director of Singapore start-up Cleantech Services, said that the high-level discussion provided a platform between the two countries 'to share feedback and work on solutions to on-the-ground challenges'. He said: 'Such cooperation (between India and Singapore) will not only strengthen supply chains, but also accelerate the growth of the Indian semiconductor ecosystem.' India, starting from scratch, has moved fast with six semiconductor plants under construction across different states, including Gujarat and Assam, with the South Asian country and the first Made in India chip to be rolled out later this year. Eyeing a 5 per cent share of the global market by 2030, the government on Aug 12 announced the approval for four more projects under the India Semiconductor Mission. The two countries are also looking for ways to export green energy from India to Singapore. In January, Sembcorp Green Hydrogen India, a subsidiary of Singapore's Sembcorp Industries, signed a non-binding agreement with the Odisha government to set up a green hydrogen manufacturing facility in Paradeep. They are also looking at setting up a green shipping corridor to facilitate shipping and support the use and trading of green fuels from Paradeep Port in the state of Odisha to Singapore, a distance of around 1,900 nautical miles. The two countries have been expanding cooperation in areas that were previously identified as well. Upskilling is the need of the hour for India, where more than 65 per cent of the population is under 35, for the country to ensure that this demographic dividend does not become a liability. Singapore's Institute of Technical Education Services has helped set up five skills centres in different parts of the country. The biggest one, with the capacity to train 3,000 young Indians, was set up in the eastern state of Odisha in 2021 with courses in vertical transport, mechatronics, and air-conditioning and refrigeration. India and Singapore enjoy close political and economic ties. Singapore is India's top foreign investor and has accounted for about 24 per cent of India's foreign direct investment equity inflows since 2000. Singaporean companies are constantly looking for opportunities in the fast-growing economy in areas like manufacturing, sustainability, data centres, and tech and innovation. Many Indian start-ups, apart from multinational companies, use India as the regional headquarters, particularly in the fintech and healthtech space. The discussions under the ISMR are beneficial for business, noted Mr Neil Parekh, chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI). 'The discussions at ISMR are expected to enhance cooperation in key sectors such as digital economy, fintech, sustainability, advanced manufacturing, and skills development,' he said. 'These align closely with the priorities of SICCI and the broader Indian business community in Singapore, offering new pathways for investment, innovation and cross-border partnerships.' The Singapore ministers also called on Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Aug 13, with the two sides hailing the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations and reaffirming their strong bilateral cooperation. President Murmu and the Singapore delegation discussed the ISMR and highlighted the importance of cooperation on skilling. During their meeting, DPM Gan conveyed President Tharman Shanmugaratnam's invitation to President Murmu to make a state visit to Singapore at a mutually convenient time. Separately, the third India-Singapore Business Roundtable (ISBR) was held on Aug 13. The ISBR is a business-led forum that brings together select leaders to identify initiatives that could strengthen the partnership between the business communities in India and Singapore, as well as forge cultural and people-to-people ties. Blackstone Singapore senior managing director and chairman Gautam Banerjee and Temasek Holdings executive director and chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara were among the business leaders who discussed ideas for potential partnership in areas such as digitalisation, industrial parks, skilling and infrastructure financing at the forum.
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Asia First - Wed 13 Aug 2025
02:27:30 Min From the opening bell across markets in Southeast Asia and China, to the biggest business interviews and top financial stories, tune in to Asia First to kick-start your business day.
