More than one way to give startups that leg-up

Singapore

WHAT do Singapore startups need most? Aside from money, it's advice on go-to-market, overseas expansion and intellectual property strategies, accelerators and incubators told The Business Times.

With over 20 of them housed in popular startup space, Block 71, and at least 10 more setting up shop in the larger LaunchPad later this year, starting up is a lonely mystery for entrepreneurs no more.

But while accelerators and incubators both provide support - financial and otherwise - to startups to improve their odds of success, they are not quite the same and are perhaps used more interchangeably here than they should (See differences here).

Accelerators typically put startups through a structured three-month programme that helps them grow their businesses quickly and get paying customers at the end of it, while incubators have no such programme or time constraints an…