Local universities blacklist SG digital start-up following misconduct allegations

Local artificial intelligence-driven digital marketing tech start-up, Apps Authority, has been blacklisted and removed from National University of Singapore's (NUS) internship portal. This comes after allegations of misconduct by the company's director, according to Lianhe Zaobao, which named the company. Marketing has reached out to Apps Authority for comment.The director was alleged to have offered a female NUS student twice the amount of internship allowance on the condition that she accompanied him on a business trip without informing the school. Lianhe Zaobao stated that in March this year, the female student had a one-way video interview with the director, whereby only he could see her while she was unable to see him.After being propositioned by the director to go a business trip with him, the female student informed faculty members, who took immediate action and lodged a police report in April. Similar allegations against the company were also made previously by three other students, who terminated their internship after the incident.Nanyang Technological University of Singapore and Lasalle College have since blacklisted Apps Authority from their internship portals, The Straits Times reported.In 2016, Apps Authority launched SmartCommerce, a cloud-based e-commerce software to help traditional retailers attract consumers and raise brand awareness about their products online. Among the list of partners that Apps Authority has worked with include Microsoft, Singapore Post and IBM.