12 startups win entry to IBM Watson-backed ‘pre-accelerator’ in Singapore

Photo credit: Atomic Taco.

IBM needs no introduction when talking about technology and computing. The US-founded company casts a long shadow over the developments that brought us the personal computer. These days, it’s throwing its weight behind another development: cognitive computing.

The IBM Watson project is a computer system that’s based on machine learning and natural language processing. You might have seen it beating humans at Jeopardy. The aim is for the computer to keep learning from previous user interactions and experiences, and thus provide better solutions over time.

This year, the firm held the IBM Watson Asia-Pacific New Venture Challenge, looking for startups that use the technology to develop new ideas and applications. The six-week, 25-team competition culminated in an event in Singapore, where the 12 winning teams were announced.

(UPDATE: A previous version of this story erroneously mentioned that only three teams were accepted in the IBM Watson Ecosystem. This has been corrected.)

Of the companies that came out ahead in the contest, three of them were the top performers on the strength and execution of their ideas. The 12 winners are invited to join Tag.Pass, a newly-announced “pre-acceleration” program run jointly by IBM and Singapore’s Infocomm Investments. Areas of interest include retail, travel, healthcare, the public sector, and finance. They also get access to IBM’s Watson API and cloud resources, making them part of a worldwide network of developers.

Top teams

Raydar

Singapore-based Raydar is a search engine for stock photos. It uses the Watson tech to get better insights on content and improve its keywords, making its search function more effective.

Snapask

Snapask is a Hong Kong-based, on-demand mobile marketplace connecting students to tutors. It uses Watson to make sense of the students’ and tutors’ behavior on its service in order to be able to offer more personalized content.

Silverlake

Silverlake is a Malaysian company that helps businesses improve customer experience and engagement through big data. Among its software products is WALIC, a lifestyle concierge app powered by Watson that offers customers personalized recommendations.

Runners-up

Cogniant

Singapore-based Cogniant is a mental healthcare service. Its app uses the technology to help mental health patients remember their medication and complete their thoughts in collaboration with their clinicians.