Singapore startup accelerator SPH Plug & Play under ‘review’

SPH Plug & Play, a startup accelerator run by media giant Singapore Press Holdings, faces an uncertain future. A source with knowledge of the situation told Tech in Asia that it’s shutting down. SPH denied this.

Rudy Lim, head of SPH Plug & Play, said no decision has been made about the program’s future, which ran for two cycles. “The possibilities are not defined yet,” he added. “There’s no hurry to jump into the third one.”

In a statement, SPH reiterated that the program isn’t closing shop. “We had two successful runs, and as part of ongoing review, we are in the midst of evaluating the program and its current format.”

No timeline was given for the review.

Another source told Tech in Asia that SPH is indeed deciding whether it should put fresh funds behind the accelerator. “Several people I’ve spoken over the past quarter told me they might not be,” the person said.

Good track record

Rudy emphasized the accelerator’s good track record. 16 startups were picked from over 500 applicants.

All eight startups from its first bootcamp have received investments after joining. One of them is tutor marketplace Snapask, which raised US$1.8 million in August last year.

Of the eight startups in batch two, two raised further funding and another two are closing deals.

SPH Plug & Play launched last year as a collaboration with Infocomm Investments and Silicon Valley startup accelerator Plug & Play Technology Center.

“The joint venture partners will continue to discuss on what is the way forward,” said Rudy, adding he can’t comment yet on whether they’ll be involved in SPH’s future accelerator program.

Meanwhile, SPH Plug & Play’s Facebook page has been asking users to follow Plug and Play Asia-Pacific, which is apparently coming to the region, on the social network:

An application form for startups to join the third batch is still on the website.