SGInnovate to invest in 20 startups as part of deep-tech strategy for 2018
Singapore
SGINNOVATE will invest millions of dollars in at least 20 deep-tech startups founded in Singapore and target 15,000 participants to attend more than 150 deep-tech events in 2018, the Singapore government-owned innovation platform said on Wednesday.
The one-year-old entity, which focuses on tech-intensive, research-driven product companies, added that it will intensify its efforts in artificial intelligence (AI), which it identified as a transformational technology that will impact most industries.
Those targets were announced as part of a new "Deep Tech Nexus" strategy to further strengthen Singapore's deep-tech startup ecosystem in 2018.
One goal is to make direct investments in 2018 in at least 20 early-stage deep-tech startups that are founded in Singapore. SGInnovate will invest less than S$100,000 in a pre-seed startup, between S$100,000 and S$1 million in a seed startup, and above S$1 million in a Series A startup.
The Business Times (BT) understands that SGInnovate will invest in deep-tech startups that are built out of Entrepreneur First (EF), a UK-headquartered partner of SGInnovate that brings together deep-tech talent and accelerates the building of deep-tech companies. SGInnovate will invest in deep-tech companies outside of EF as well, BT has learnt.
SGInnovate added that it will manage a part of the S$200 million Startup SG Equity fund, which will see it co-invest in deep-tech startups alongside venture capital firms, including Jungle Ventures and NSI Ventures. Startup SG Equity, a scheme set up in March, allows the government to co-invest with appointed private-sector investors in deep-tech startups.
Steve Leonard, founding chief executive officer of SGInnovate, told BT that the platform enjoys a "unique position" of being a private limited company owned by the government, which allows it to be more "risk on" and invest in deep-tech startups, whose solutions typically take longer to be created and commercialised. "We see ourselves as an inside outsider ... and deep-tech evangelists."
As part of "Deep Tech Nexus", SGInnovate will host deep-tech related networking events for researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to discuss "important future topics" such as AI, blockchain and medtech. The goal is to have 15,000 participants attend more than 150 such events.
SGInnovate will organise learning programmes delivered by industry leaders on areas such as machine learning, deep learning and data analytics. It is aiming to draw 1,500 people to take part in those programmes over the next two years. SGInnovate will also work to expand the deep-tech talent network here, with a goal to connect 2,000 talented individuals to deep-tech startups.
To boost AI capabilities, SGInnovate said that it has partnered industry players including General Assembly, GIC, IBM, National Supercomputing Centre Singapore, Nurture.ai, NVIDIA, Red Dragon AI and SingularityNET to build AI talent and facilitate startups' access to AI technologies.
SingularityNET, an open marketplace that enables the exchange of AI services, will support SGInnovate by providing technical experts for its training sessions and offering AI startups early access to its platform.
Scott Jones, managing director of Six Kin Development (which is the Singapore representative of SingularityNET), told BT: "SingularityNET's new decentralised marketplace for AI services is a perfect marriage for SGInnovate's portfolio startups, which want to easily and quickly market and monetise their technologies."
SGInnovate's Mr Leonard added: "Over the past year, we have worked with hundreds of researchers, founders, corporates and investors. Being so immersed in the deep-tech founder community has given us a rich understanding of the specific challenges facing these entrepreneurs."
He said tackling these challenges gives SGInnovate's second year of operation great clarity and focus and this has led to its "Deep Tech Nexus" strategy.
