Singapore-registered start-up Sanct, a social app where first friends are added in person, releases third short film ahead of Tech in Asia Conference 2026

Sanct, a Singapore-registered start-up whose social app begins with meeting friends in person, has released the third episode of its short film series on YouTube. In the new film, Keisha, who works in Singapore, has to tell her family in Jakarta that she cannot come home yet, and the family finds another way to spend the evening together. Sanct will exhibit at Tech in Asia Conference 2026 at Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 15 and 16 September, and launches on Product Hunt on 15 September.

SINGAPORE – Keisha works in Singapore, and she promised her family in Jakarta that she would come home soon. In Sanct’s new short film, now on YouTube, she has to tell them she cannot keep that promise yet.

“I’m sorry, I can’t come home yet. I got a new project from my boss,” she writes to the family group chat early in the morning. The night before, her younger sister Clarissa had sent her a message: “Can’t wait for you to come home.” In Jakarta, Clarissa reads the new message on the bus to work, and she cries.

Clarissa writes back what many families with someone overseas have asked before: “When will you come home? We miss you.” Keisha does not have a date to give. What she gives instead is a smaller promise, one she can keep: “Nothing’s sure yet, but we can still meet, right? Tonight, in the Sanctum?”

With that one line, the morning turns. Clarissa agrees and asks for their parents to join too. At 6pm, the film shows the four of them in three different places, Mum and Dad at home, Clarissa at her office in Jakarta and Keisha at hers in Singapore, each opening the Sanctum on their phone. Keisha still cannot come home. But on this evening, the family is together anyway.

Many people in Singapore live far from their parents or siblings, or have come here to work while their family stays in another country. For them, Keisha’s message will feel familiar.

What the film shows

The features in the film are already in the Sanct app: group chats for family and close friends with reactions, a good-night check-in that lets friends see when someone is asleep, and the Sanctum, a small beach inside the app that opens at 6pm every day, where users can spend time with whoever comes in. Every moment a user shares has an audience they choose: everyone in their circle, selected friends, or only themselves.

The three Sanct films follow the same family. The first grew out of a real story from a beta user, shared with permission: Clarissa does not tell anyone about her hard day, but her friends notice and reply. In the second, a question about dinner becomes Keisha’s promise to come home soon. The third is about what a family does when that promise has to wait.

How user data is handled

Sanct has no ads, no public feed, and it does not sell user data to third parties. Moments, check-ins and chats can only be seen by the people a user chooses. Sancty, the small companion inside the app, processes data only inside the user’s own account in order to respond, and this data is not used to train public AI models. Sanct’s privacy policy is published at https://sanctsocial.app/privacy

“Keisha cannot come home yet, and many families in Singapore know how that feels,” said Mr Sion Abednego, founder of Sanct. “We cannot make the distance shorter. Sanct is only the bridge: on the days you cannot be in the same room, you can still spend the evening together.”

Traction and what comes next

Sanct opened its closed beta on 23 August at Jakarta’s Car Free Day, where 147 people signed up on the first day. Within a week it had more than 150 active users and over 1,600 people on its waiting list. The beta is now over. Sanct launches on Product Hunt on 15 September and will be available first in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It runs on a freemium model: core features stay free, and optional premium features will follow, with no ads in either.

On 15 and 16 September, Sanct will exhibit at Tech in Asia Conference 2026 at Sands Expo and Convention Centre, where visitors can meet Mr Abednego in person, which is also how first friendships on Sanct begin. Details of the booth, and what visitors can take home, will follow in a separate announcement. Mr Abednego is available for interviews at the booth on both days.

Sign-ups for Sanct are open at https://sanct.social

This press release has also been published on VRITIMES