Broadband provider MyRepublic says it has secured a further SGD23 million (USD16.1 million) in funding from investors to help drive its push to become a major player in the Singapore market. The injection, which includes funding from Brunei’s largest operator DST Communications, means that the start-up has secured SGD68 million since launching three years ago. MyRepublic intends to use the investment to further its ongoing expansion plans in the city-state: ‘Our vision is to build a lean and mean operator that can survive with 8% share in Singapore, so there’s a lot to learn from DST’s success in a market with just around 70,000 households and 400,000 customers,’ said Malcolm Rodrigues, CEO of MyRepublic.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, MyRepublic started offering broadband internet services in Singapore in 2011. The company is backed by the Indonesian telecoms group Sunshine Network and French telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel. In July 2014 the fibre broadband provider received a cash injection of SGD30 million from Sunshine Network (SGD20 million) and Xavier Niel (SGD10 million), as it looks to carve out a niche as the state’s fourth operator. At the time, Rodrigues confirmed MyRepublic’s bold plan to take the fight to incumbent operators Singtel, StarHub and M1.