Development Board to support and promote promising local startups. In the early 2010s, the Singaporean government recognized the growing importance of startups and entrepreneurship to the country's future economic success and sustainability. Leaders wanted to nurture a vibrant startup ecosystem that could generate jobs, drive innovation, and turn some local ventures into global giants. SA was launched as a key initiative to help strengthen different aspects of Singapore's startup landscape.
Originally starting out as a 6-month program, SA now runs multiple cohort-based accelerators throughout the year of varying lengths. The flagship program remains a 6-month intense accelerator where selected startups receive mentorship, workspace, networking opportunities, and funding of up to S$150,000 in exchange for 6% equity. SA's goal is to help startups scale rapidly on both a national and global level through focused guidance and access to investors. It aims to build at least one Singapore-based unicorn startup within the next 5 years that achieves a valuation of over S$1 billion.
Providing Resources And Expertise
In addition to capital, SA offers various types of support to participating startups. Each cohort has access to SA's network of expert mentors from both the public and private sectors. Mentors provide advice on honing business models, fundraising strategies, hiring practices, managing growth, and more. SA has assembled some of Singapore's most accomplished entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors as mentors.
Startups in the program also gain coworking space within SA's dedicated facility in the heart of Singapore's centralized business district. This provides an inspiring work environment alongside other ambitious founders. SA hosts regular networking events that allow startups to connect with potential customers, partners, and future investors. It also organizes workshops and seminars led byexperts on topics vital to startup success.
Nurturing Cross-Border Collaboration
Recognizing Singapore's strength lies in connectivity to regional s, SA places great importance on supporting cross-border collaborations. It actively helps startups explore opportunities beyond Singapore by fostering partnerships with overseas accelerators. SA has exchange programs with accelerators in Southeast Asian cities like Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. Selected Singapore startups can spend time immersed in these ecosystems to expand regionally.
Singapore Startup Accelerator (SA)also organizes networking trips abroad where participating startups meet investors, potential customers, and partners in destinations like Silicon Valley, Beijing, and India. These international journeys shine a spotlight on promising Singapore startups to global stakeholders. Some past SA startups have found foreign co-founders, opened overseas offices, or raised significant funding from meetings organized on such overseas networking missions. SA aims to position Singapore as the regional startup hub connected to the rest of Southeast Asia and major innovation hubs worldwide.
Graduating Successful Startups
Since launching in 2013, SA has accelerated over 200 startups across various cohorts and programs. Some notable success stories that graduated from SA include mobile games startup Sea Ltd, digital bank fintech GrabOne, and AI-driven tutoring platform Anthropic. Sea, valued at over US$150 billion, is one of Southeast Asia's richest companies and the most prominent example of the potential of SA-accelerated startups.
Other SA alumni like payments platform Nium, agritech startup CropIn, and logistics solution Smart Fleet have gone on to raise substantial later-stage funding rounds. Many startups credited SA's guidance and network with helping them transition out of the early-risk stage and scale up professionally. SA continues monitoring its alumni and provides ongoing support even post-acceleration to help more startups achieve meaningful milestones. Its goal is for at least 10 past cohorts to each produce one unicorns within the next decade.
The focused programs, Singapore Startup Accelerator (SA)is playing a pivotal role in cultivating Singapore's startup community. With dedicated resources and emphasis on both local and regional expansion, it aims to propel more promising ventures to global success. SA's approach of combining capital, mentorship, and networking opportunities has proven effective at accelerating high-potential startups from ideas to investment-ready scaleups. Its impact on growing Singapore's innovation culture and digital economy has been tremendous so far and the best is yet to come.
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Ravina Pandya, Content Writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemical and materials, etc. (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravina-pandya-1a3984191)
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
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