Enterprise Singapore announces inaugural SEA innovation challenge at SWITCH

Enterprise Singapore has launched the inaugural Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge, where regional companies can get the opportunity to work on gaps in the media, retail, consumer tech, fintech, proptech, and agritech industries.

Photo credit: cegoh / Pixabay

For the program, Enterprise Singapore has tapped five companies in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam to come onboard as regional corporate-level partners. These include Bangkok’s Central Group, Indonesia’s Emtek Group, Singapore’s Hong Leong Holdings, Malaysia’s Sunway Group, and Vietnam’s VNG Cloud.

Chosen startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will get opportunities to work with the regional partners to develop their solutions. Up to six companies will be chosen (one from each industry) to win up to S$20,000 (US$15,ooo) each in grant money.

Those interested to apply may do so until February 28 next year.

Additionally, Enterprise Singapore announced that it has expanded its Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) network to include Manila. GIA is Enterprise Singapore’s network of international partners with a focus on innovation. The Philippines’ capital city marks the fourth GIA node in the region, bringing the total number of cities to 14 globally.

Under GIA Manila, Enterprise Singapore said it will partner with innovation platform Plug and Play to usher in more collaborations between Singapore tech startups with their counterparts in the Philippines. Plug and Play will also be working with Philippine accelerator Launchgarage to help connect participants to industry stakeholders in the country.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Enterprise Singapore to support more locations for the GIA and look forward to playing a bigger role in helping Singaporean startups expand in complex markets like the Philippines and Indonesia,” said Plug and Play co-founder Jojo Flores.

As part of GIA, Plug and Play is set to run two types of accelerator programs: a market access program to give an overview of the innovation ecosystem in the Philippines and a sector-based demand-led innovation program that will target challenges faced by local corporates.

The virtual programs are scheduled to start in the first quarter of next year, aiming to involve up to 50 Singapore startups over one year.