Australian innovation finds a hothouse in Singapore

AUSTRALIA and Singapore have forged one of the closest and most comprehensive bilateral relationships in the region thanks to long-standing diplomatic and trade relations, and a similar strategic outlook. As the country's largest trade and investment partner in Asean, Singapore has also evolved into a strategic focus for Australia's presence in the region.

Singapore has steadily positioned itself as the region's top startup ecosystems - the country is home to more than 5,000 tech startups; and in 2018, there were a recorded 189 deals amounting to a total of US$7.5 billion. It is no surprise that Singapore has become the go-to hub for many international startups, especially Australian ones.

The country's proximity to Australia and position as a gateway to South-east Asia has consistently attracted Australian businesses, offering them the perfect stepping stone to enter regional markets and scale exponentially. Singapore's pro-business environment is also a plus.

When the two countries signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2015, it aimed to promote innovation between Australian and Singaporean research agencies, companies, startups and universities. It led to the launch of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission's (Austrade) Landing Pad programme in 2017 - an initiative that helps market-ready Australian startups and scaleups take their business global through a 90-day programme - to increase entrepreneurial activity and venture funding, encourage free flow and exchange of information and ideas between organisations, while fostering an open mindset that enables collaboration and partnerships for innovation between both countries. Today, the Singapore Landing Pad programme has supported 41 startups to bring their business to market and further co-develop new ideas with Singaporean partners.

Since the launch of Landing Pad, the number of representatives from Australia's startup ecosystem has grown - Australian accelerators, incubators, venture capitalists and angel investors have expanded to the region and set up in Singapore.

For instance, Australian investment funds such as Investible and Artesian have expanded into Singapore and are now investing in local and regional startups. Meanwhile, BlueChilli's HealthTech Accelerator; Accelerating Asia's Asean Smart Cities Accelerator funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT); Rocket Seeder's Agri-FoodTech Accelerator, GROW; and the University of Adelaide's ThincLab Incubator are now housing and grooming the region's next wave of brilliant entrepreneurs.

Beyond startups, the CSP has opened the window of opportunity for both Australian and Singaporean education and research institutions to learn from each other's innovation capabilities.

On a community level, Singapore's Ngee Ann Polytechnic facilitates an internship exchange that allows their students to work in Australian startups across different industries. Similarly, the University of Queensland has recently placed 20 undergraduate and postgraduate students in Singapore-based startups. Other educational organisations such as Collective Campus and Academy Xi are also delivering future-ready courses and skill-based consultancies to Singapore-based corporates and individuals.

The CSP has also allowed for greater collaboration between Australian companies and Singapore institutions to foster innovation. For example, Sydney-based industrial technology developer CEC Systems, which joined the Landing Pad in July 2017, has been working with A*Star's Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) to enhance its core product COLLAPSECON C-400, a shipping container that can be collapsed and combined when empty to reduce handling, storage space and transportation costs.

Awakened Mind, another Landing Pad startup which aims to raise awareness of mental wellness within organisations, is currently working on a six-month project with National University of Singapore to precisely measure the impact of its Team Starter Programme on health, well-being, productivity and engagement among corporate teams around the world. The project has received a grant and has a PhD student working full-time with Awakened Mind and NUS faculty.

Partnerships continue to play an important role for our two innovation ecosystems to deliver meaningful results, most recently with the signing of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between Austrade and the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), as well as with SGInnovate and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). These MOUs have allowed Austrade to help further build Singapore as a regional base for Australian innovation and companies.

The growing Australian community is now part of the local innovation ecosystem and is helping to accelerate mutual learning and drive collaborative opportunities - a blueprint for success which Austrade is committed to further foster.