Singapore's ACE signs pact with Austrian organisations to help startups internationalise

ACTION Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Advantage Austria and the Global Incubator Network (GIN) to promote international business opportunities for startups across Singapore and Austria.

Under the agreement, the parties will organise events and workshops for startups, to raise awareness of Austria as a launchpad to the European market and of Singapore as a launchpad to the Asian market.

The initiative also aims to foster greater investor networks between the two countries and increase market access.

ACE is a private organisation for local and international startups looking to expand their business overseas. It also partners government agencies such as Enterprise Singapore and JTC to help startups become more competitive and co-innovate.

Advantage Austria is the official Austrian foreign trade promotion organisation while GIN is a flagship programme, initiated by the Austrian government, to link the startup ecosystem there with peers in Asia.

Mark Hon, chairman of ACE, said: "The signing of the MOU marks the start of a close co-operation to help ACE, Advantage Austria and GIN gain knowledge and insights on the startup ecosystems of Singapore and Austria for start-ups to thrive in.

"Through this mutually beneficial partnership, we aim to strengthen the investor and entrepreneur networks of both countries, which will hopefully act as the start-up ecosystems' launchpads for the Asian and the European markets."