Mention “coworking space” in Singapore, and a few names crop up. One of them is The Hub Singapore. Launched in 2012, this familiar player has established itself as a face of the burgeoning startup, social enterprise, and innovation scene in the country.
It clearly wants to be more than a physical venue, having announced a couple of new initiatives during the launch event for its new space. Perhaps the most interesting of the lot is an upcoming Hub Alumni Fund, which will be unwrapped later in 2015.
The fund is exactly what it sounds like – Hub members reinvesting in Hub members. To date, S$300,000 (US$214,000) has been pledged by angels or high net worth individuals, and it’s eyeing to raise up to S$1 million (US$714,000). A small start, but it sounds like a promising initiative with much room for expansion.
It has a second investment-related initiative, called the Investor in Residence Program. Besides a few goodies for investment firms and their portfolio companies, venture capitalists in the program will mentor “Hubbers” – members of the space – and spend time every quarter listening to pitches.
Clearly, a lot that has happened since it raised US$1.1 million some months ago – a rarity for coworking spaces. The funding kickstarts its rebirth as an entity that’s reaching far beyond its premises.
“This next phase will see us focusing more on collaborations across the ecosystem, especially with corporates who want to connect with startups, the government venture capitalist, investors, and media partners,” says founder Grace Sai.
“We have by default stepped into the responsibility of being a network of networks, creating more visibility of different parties that could and should be working together.”
The main coworking area.
The events space.
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