Spring appoints 7 new accelerators for startups in emerging sectors

Singapore

SPRING Singapore has appointed seven new accelerators to grow high-potential startups in the clean technology and advanced manufacturing and engineering (AME) sectors.

The seven partners are Enchant- VC, Green Meadows Accelerator, JCS Venture Lab, Jungle Ventures, TNB Ventures, TRIREC, and Wavemaker, said Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), S Iswaran. He was speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing and Pro-AM Conference 2016 at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

These accelerators will focus on supporting deep-technology startups in cleantech and AME, with the latter including areas such as additive manufacturing (3D printing), advanced materials, nanotechnology, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for consumers and smart cities.

According to Spring's data, the number of such Singapore-based startups in these sectors almost doubled from about 2,800 in 2004 to 5,400 in 2014.

These startups employed 30,000 workers, or close to one per cent of the workforce, in 2014.

Edwin Chow, group director for industry development and innovation & startups at Spring Singapore, said: "We would like to thank our co-investment and incubation partners for their strong support towards grooming high-potential startups. By partnering them, we hope to accelerate commercialisation for entrepreneurs in emerging and deep-tech sectors who might need more time and support to go to market."

Spring's appointment of these seven accelerators is expected to further support and catalyse smart financing options for startups in these sectors.

Besides having financial and investor knowledge, these accelerators will value-add by offering resources such as mentorship, connections to business networks, and advice to help startups shorten their learning curve and go-to-market.

Spring Seeds Capital (SSC), the investment arm of Spring, and the selected accelerators will co-invest in high-potential startups by matching dollar-for-dollar, with a maximum joint investment quantum of up to S$4 million per startup. The quantum will be drawn from the S$75 million co-investment fund set aside for growing startups in these emerging sectors, as announced in Budget 2015.

"Funding alone is not the only success factor for startups to take off as infrastructural support and access to networks and markets are important too," said Mr Chow.

"Last year, we co-invested S$13 million in 17 early-stage companies, catalysing S$36 million from private investors. We will continue our efforts in providing suitable infrastructure and facilitating access to market opportunities for startups."