SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vespexx Inc., an AI-driven femtech company, today announced it has been named a Finalist for the Digital Health Hub Foundation's Digital Health & AI Awards 2026, held at HLTH. Competing in the Rising Star track under the Women's & Family Health category, Vespexx advanced from the Quarterfinalist stage announced earlier this fall, standing out among more than 1,300 submissions.
The Digital Health & AI Awards recognize organizations that use digital technology to improve healthcare services and patient outcomes, with a focus on speed, efficiency and equity of care.
Vespexx earned its Finalist distinction for Soonr, a preconception health platform that actively involves both partners in pregnancy planning from day one. Addressing the mental load often carried by women during the trying-to-conceive (TTC) journey, the Soonr app allows couples to seamlessly connect their accounts and navigate the process as a team. Within the platform, users can track cycle and lifestyle data, which is integrated with at-home hormone test results from the FDA-listed Surearly SMART Kit. By giving both partners the same timeline and updates, Soonr turns a traditionally isolating process into an informed, collaborative journey.
"For too long, the journey to pregnancy has been treated as a solitary burden, often leaving one partner overwhelmed and the other disconnected," said Scarlett Joowon Jung, Co-CEO of Vespexx. "Soonr was built to close that gap by transforming preconception health into a shared, data-driven experience. This recognition from the Digital Health Hub Foundation validates our mission to make preconception health a shared journey, and we look forward to sharing our work on the HLTH stage as we accelerate our expansion in the U.S. market."
"The transition from Quarterfinalist to Finalist is where the competition really gets exciting," said Mark H. Goldstein, Chairman of the Digital Health Hub Foundation. "We're seeing companies move beyond promising ideas to solutions that are changing how healthcare is delivered, experienced, and accessed. Our finalists represent an extraordinary range of innovation, and we can't wait to bring their achievements to the stage at HLTH in November."
Award winners will be announced on Monday, November 16, at HLTH USA at The Venetian in Las Vegas. The Women's & Family Health category awards will be presented during the 2:30 PM PT ceremony at the Awards Pavilion.
Attendees of HLTH USA can also visit Vespexx at booth 1438-6 in the KIST SeoulBioHub Pavilion (Venetian Level 2, Exhibit Hall) to experience the Soonr platform firsthand.
About Digital Health Hub Foundation
Our mission is to help the world's next best innovative healthcare companies scale and grow. Founded in 2017, on the campus of UCSF in San Francisco, our now 30,000 member community consists of thousands of early-to late-stage healthcare companies and highly qualified healthcare industry providers, payors, experts, mentors, investors, clinicians and researchers who participate in our annual awards ceremony where we bring together the industry to honor and validate the best of the best and celebrate the technological advances in healthcare and the impact it has.
About Vespexx
Vespexx is an AI femtech company based in Seoul, South Korea. The company is backed by strategic partner Sugentech (KOSDAQ: 253840), which brings 15 years of in vitro diagnostics R&D. Through this partnership, Vespexx operates with vertical integration across diagnostics R&D, hardware manufacturing, software and AI development, marketing and commercialization. Vespexx operates Soonr Health, a couples-focused preconception health platform, and previously launched Signaling, a couple's app with more than 800,000 users. The company is currently expanding into the U.S. market. Learn more at https://soonr.health.
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Vespexx Recognized as Finalist for the Digital Health Hub Foundation Digital Health & AI Awards 2026 at HLTH
SINGAPORE, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa, a global leader in digital payments and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen Singapore's appeal as a preferred travel destination and to unlock new growth opportunities. The collaboration will focus on three key pillars – driving discovery of Singapore's tourism products, especially its dining and night-time experiences; deriving insights to identify high-value tourism opportunities; and developing co-branded marketing campaigns to build brand preference for both Visa and Singapore.
Visa also announced that Singapore will be part of Visa Destinations, and the collaboration will leverage Visa Destinations as a platform to introduce strategic partnerships, flagship initiatives and experiences across Singapore's tourism precincts and high-yield traveller segments.
Visa Destinations is a global travel programme designed to elevate how travellers discover and experience the world's most iconic destinations. Singapore is the second country to launch Visa Destinations in Asia Pacific, following Thailand which was introduced in July this year. Other cities include London, New York, and Paris, reinforcing the city's position as a leading travel hub. The programme will commence in Singapore in November this year.
Curating distinctively local experiences to inspire discovery of Singapore
The first pillar of collaboration will focus on benefits and experiences for travellers across tourism industries including attractions, dining, entertainment, retail and tours, which are key categories of spend.
Visa's data shows that shopping and dining are significant contributors to traveller spend. This reinforces the importance of curating meaningful experiences that give travellers compelling reasons to return to Singapore, particularly as repeat visitors spend approximately four times more than first-time visitors[1]. Visa's spend trend data and insights can sharpen the understanding of visitor segments, source markets and experiences with the greatest potential to drive higher-value demand, deeper exploration and repeat travel.
Visa and STB will also work closely to curate offers that showcase local businesses across tourism precincts, including building on an existing partnership with Pelago by Singapore Airlines to promote attractions and tours, supported by seamless, secure payment experiences throughout the visitor journey. These include introducing benefits and experience packages for Visa cardholders globally through the Visa Destinations platform at key attractions in Singapore.
The partnership will also spotlight Singapore's vibrant night-time experiences, with both parties collaborating to drive demand, including building on an existing collaboration with Grab. Singapore's night-time dynamism is a compelling part of its destination appeal, with flagship events such as the Singapore Grand Prix creating opportunities for visitors to experience the city after dark. The latest data from Visa indicated that during the F1™[2] Singapore Night Race 2026 race week, there was uplift in spend on restaurant and entertainment categories by two-thirds. Spending grew throughout the day, where evening spend climbed by almost half between 7pm and 11pm, and nearly doubled between 11pm and 5am[3].
Harnessing insights and targeted campaigns to drive high-value tourism
The second pillar will focus on harnessing tourism insights to identify high-value tourism opportunities through rich insights from Visa's global network of cardholder data and analytics capabilities.
Visa data shows that some of the largest inbound travel corridors to Singapore amongst Visa cardholders include Australia, Indonesia, Mainland China, Malaysia and the United States[4]. This aligns with STB's visitor arrival data, where these markets are among the largest source markets of visitors to Singapore. As there are common markets of interest, pooling available market data will allow both parties to develop a deeper understanding of visitor behaviour and preferences, tailor more targeted initiatives in response, and ensure efforts are focused on markets and segments with the highest potential for high-value tourism growth.
The third pillar of cooperation will see Visa and STB develop co-branded marketing campaigns anchored on the brand strengths of Visa Destinations and STB's Passion Made Possible. The partners will roll out initiatives across key source markets, supported by destination-led storytelling, co-marketing activities and in-destination activations. These efforts will combine tailored travel content with exclusive access and experiences for Visa cardholders, building on the success of past campaigns such as Visa-STB-Pelago's 'Seasons. Made in Singapore' and 'Non-stop Fun' which built on STB's 'Made in Singapore' and 'We Don't Wait For Fun' campaigns.
"Singapore is already a world-class destination with strong global appeal. Our partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board is about converting that appeal into deeper engagement, bringing together STB's destination expertise with Visa's global network, travel insights and partnerships to inspire more international travellers to visit and return," said Adeline Kim, Group Country Manager, Regional Southeast Asia, & SVP, Global Clients, Asia Pacific, Visa. "Visa Destinations will help turn inspiration into action by connecting our cardholders with benefits, exclusive access and distinctive experiences across attractions, dining, entertainment, retail and tours. Together, we can make every stage of the journey more rewarding and seamless, while helping visitors discover more of Singapore and supporting the country's ambition for high-value tourism growth," she added.
"As travellers today increasingly seek more personalised and distinctive experiences, Singapore continues to evolve to inspire new discoveries with every visit. This partnership with Visa brings together its global reach, insights and network of partners with STB's destination expertise to curate compelling, high-quality experiences and data-driven marketing campaigns that resonate with travellers' interests. Through this collaboration, we aim to create more opportunities for our tourism businesses and advance STB's Tourism 2040 priorities through impactful, high-quality tourism growth," said Melissa Ow, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board.
To see the list of Singapore's Visa Destinations' benefits and experiences, click here.
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About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
About the Singapore Tourism Board
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the lead development agency for tourism, one of Singapore's key economic sectors. Together with industry partners and the community, we shape a dynamic Singapore tourism landscape. We bring the Passion Made Possible brand to life by differentiating Singapore as a vibrant destination that inspires people to share and deepen their passions.
More: www.stb.gov.sg or www.visitsingapore.com | Follow us: STB LinkedIn, STB Facebook or STB Instagram
| [1] VisaNet data as of April 2025 to March 2026 |
| [2] Visa has no commercial affiliation or sponsorship relationship with Formula 1TM. All insights and data provided are based on VisaNet data from during the week of the Singapore Grand Prix |
| [3] VisaNet data as of event week is 5–11 October 2026, compared with the weekly average of the 52-week benchmark period from 6 October 2025 to 4 October 2026 |
| [4] VisaNet data as of September 2026 |
[1] VisaNet data as of April 2025 to March 2026
[2] Visa has no commercial affiliation or sponsorship relationship with Formula 1TM. All insights and data provided are based on VisaNet data from during the week of the Singapore Grand Prix
[3] VisaNet data as of event week is 5–11 October 2026, compared with the weekly average of the 52-week benchmark period from 6 October 2025 to 4 October 2026
[4] VisaNet data as of September 2026
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Visa Partners Singapore Tourism Board to Strengthen Singapore's Global Destination Appeal
