Enterprise Singapore appoints 14 new partners to nurture startups

ENTERPRISE Singapore (ESG) has added 14 new Accredited Mentor Partners (AMPs) to its Startup SG Founder scheme to groom local startups, with the appointments taking effect on May 1. 

The newly-appointed AMPs include startup investors and accelerators such as Accelerating Asia, AgFunder Rocket Seeder, Big Idea Ventures Asia, Cocoon Capital, Decacorn Partners, Eight Mercatus, STRIVE and Entrepreneur First. 

The other AMPs are EthAum Venture Partners, F10 FinTech Incubator and Accelerator, Farquhar Venture Capital, IES Incubator and Accelerator, Silicon Solution Partners and Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Centre. 

The new appointments bring the total AMP network to 57, most of whom are in deep-tech industries such as agritech and advanced manufacturing. The partners were selected based on the quality of their programmes, the strength of their management teams and their operational sustainability, ESG said. 

Last year, 74 startups received structured mentoring from 43 AMPs and were awarded grants totalling S$2.22 million for business development. 

The Startup SG Founder programme aims to provide mentorship and startup capital grants to first-time entrepreneurs. The AMPs identify eligible startups based on their business concepts, business model feasibility, strength of their management teams and potential market value. Successful applicants receive advice, learning programmes and contacts from the AMPs.

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Lim Seow Hui, director of startup development at ESG, said: "We have seen startups stepping up to find ways to tackle issues arising from Covid-19. In this current climate, it is therefore imperative that we continue to collaborate with and support startups in their growth by working with strong ecosystem partners like our appointed AMPs, who have the right capabilities and networks to guide startups through this challenging period."

Will Klippgen, managing partner of Cocoon Capital, one of the newly-appointed AMPs, said: "Mentorship is an integral part of growing a strong ecosystem for entrepreneurs, and we at Cocoon Capital see the Startup SG Founder programme as a great way to extend our mentoring to startups outside our portfolio, and to do our part in creating successful founders."