Singtel partners top telcos to ramp up startup ecosystem

SINGAPORE Telecommunications' (Singtel) startup arm, Innov8, has teamed up with its counterparts in France's Orange SA (Orange Fab), Deutsche Telekom (hub:raum) and Spain's Telefónica (Telefónica Open Future) to join up the startup ecosystems across South-east Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Innov8 is a venture-capital fund wholly owned by Singtel, with its own set of decision-making, approval and funding processes. It has a fund size of US$250 million with offices in Singapore, San Francisco, Tel Aviv and Beijing.

The partnership among the telcos aims at catalysing the growth of eligible startups and launching them beyond their respective home markets. Selected startups will have the benefit of tapping into the resources and network of the four leading communications companies.

This includes market insights, introductions to partners, the use of co-working spaces and access to the companies' operating businesses. Selected startups may also have the opportunity to gain access to the operators' collective mobile customer base of over one billion people across four continents.