SG pledges $24.6m to boost corporate-startup partnerships

Image credit: Timmy Loen

The Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) is injecting S$32 million (US$24.6 million) over the next two years to expand its corporate venture program.

On top of venture creation, the Corporate Venture Launchpad (CVL) 3.0 will also make it easier for Singapore-based companies to form partnerships with startups.

Through the program, EDB’s New Ventures team will work – together with nine appointed partners – with selected companies to innovate in growth areas

These partners comprise both venture studio partners and open innovation partners; they will guide companies to create ventures as well as to collaborate with startups.

This third tranche of funds is 60% higher than the US$15.4 million that EDB committed to the second edition of its CVL program in 2022. The initiative was launched in May 2021 with US$7.7 million in pilot funding.

“What we heard from companies was that there were misaligned expectations between the companies and startups,” Jacqueline Poh, managing director of EDB, said at the launch of CVL 3.0.

She pointed out that internal processes were not startup-friendly, it was difficult to match startups to the problem set of the companies, and there was no clear line of sight toward the most impactful business outcomes of large companies.

To address these issues, Poh said CVL 3.0 will feature a capability-building program for companies, enabling them to establish best practices for working with startups and to increase their access to high-quality startup partners.

EDB will co-fund up to half the manpower and professional services costs, with additional grant support for selected companies to run pilots with their startup partners.

At the same time, startups will “benefit greatly” from the collaboration and support from multinational corporations. “Startups will gain access to corporate demand, and hopefully it will allow them to scale their businesses from Singapore,” said Poh.

Since the launch of CVL, EDB has supported 24 companies in launching 14 new ventures, with more in the pipeline.

Currency converted from Singapore dollar to US dollar: US$1 = S$1.30.

See also: Singapore startups seek Malaysia’s greener pastures