The Singapore-based startup on 2 August applied to the High Court to start the restructuring process as it seeks a six-month reprieve against enforcement actions and legal proceedings.
The concept’s potential partners include supermarket operators, real estate investment trust owners which owns malls, he added. “The Singapore store is a proof of concept. It is where we will actually test the technology and make sure the kinks are ironed out before we roll out in other countries,” Ong said. He added that if it were up to him, he would have put the Habitat concept in a mall, rather than an industrial warehouse.
The company also slashed its global headcount and is paring down its business to focus on the core grocery segment and on Habitat. Growing painsA key reason why the company had experienced “growing pains” was that it had expanded too fast and adopted “one size fits all” strategy of trying to be everything to everyone, Ong said.
Most recently, he turned around Perth Precast, which he salvaged from judicial management. He acquired the assets of Perth Precast via Precast Australia, and listed Precast Australia on the Australian Stock Exchange via a reverse takeover into Weststar Industrial.