VLT, Malaysia’s leading independent design, innovation and technology firm has acquired Singapore-based Tinkerbox Studios. 

“We see this acquisition as a major step in VLT’s strategy to establish a strong presence in South East Asia," said Adrian Lim, Chief Executive Officer of VLT. 

“Tinkerbox is no stranger to VLT, as we have collaborated on a number of projects in the past four years and it is no surprise that we have since decided to acquire Tinkerbox for its stellar record in innovation and technology. 

“By bringing together the strengths of the VLT and Tinkerbox Studios, we have now solidified our capabilities to build, innovate and deliver digital products in the region, which will also strengthen our competitive market place positioning,” added Lim. 

VLT set out as a small, independent home grown Malaysian company in 2013 and has rapidly grown to become a leading award-winning firm. 

VLT’s work impacts some of the world’s biggest brands; BMW, Citibank, Sony, Kimberly-Clark, LG and Tesco amongst many while also on Malaysian brands such as Astro, Webe, Sime Darby, Munchy’s, Jobstreet and more. 

But just as importantly, VLT champions and invests in startups, incubating entrepreneurs to SEA and beyond. Some of the work that VLT has done in the startup circuit includes; Supahands, ShopU, Ombre, Goget and TangoFlare amongst others.

Having established its name in the digital scene, VLT has made a major shift from a digital agency to one that focuses on developing and innovating digital products for businesses across various industries from startups to corporations. Therefore, the acquisition of the established design and development studio, Tinkerbox, is a timely synergy in line with its plans.

Founded in 2007 by Jaryl Sim, Kelvin Tham and Clarence Chew, Tinkerbox has supported over 100 projects and startups over the last 10 years. Tinkerbox has inspired and influenced a number of technology ventures in the region including Luxe Nomad, Kaligo, Nail Deck and supported businesses such as IDEO, DBS, LTA, Grab, Ricoh, YCH amongst many others. 

Just last year, Tinkerbox was unveiled as the top ten best technology companies to work for in Singapore, alongside corporate giants such as IBM and Accenture at the Tech3 Forum 2017. Tinkerbox Studios has also been named the top 25 most promising Agile providers by APAC CIO Outlook in 2017. 

Speaking of the new venture, Jaryl, founder of Tinkerbox stated that this partnership was entered into so as to meet a rising demand in the market for building technologically sophisticated products, and launching them in challenging and competitive markets.

“Digital product design has huge opportunities and demand in the region. VLT and Tinkerbox has both the track record and technological expertise to facilitate this need”, Jaryl added. 

Clarence, who played a key role in building this partnership,  further mentioned that the partnership would be key in spurring further innovation and technology requirements for digital in brands, businesses and startups in Asia.

“We are excited to have both Jaryl and Clarence onboard with us. With stellar performance of previous work such as Citibank, Astro and Ricoh, we are now ready to serve and partner with corporations in the region to deliver digital services and experiences in South East Asia,” added Lim.

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