Huawei Cloud launched the inaugural Spark Incubator programme as part of its partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) PIXEL Innovation Hub.
It targets early-stage Singapore-based start-ups in the pre-seed and seed space from sectors including FinTech, Web3, Metaverse and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) focused enterprises, aiming to support their growth to Series A and expansion in Singapore and ASEAN region.
The programme aims to incubate up to 12 start-ups per cohort for a period of five months and will be run twice over the span of a year. It will provide access to valuable resources and expertise from Huawei and IMDA to further accelerate and grow their business. Start-ups are expected to receive 3rd party financing over S$250k or increase their valuation by at least 20% or cross S$250k at its annual revenue in the post-programme.
After four months of selection from over 80 applications, Leo Jiang, Chief Digital Officer of Huawei Cloud APAC and the director of the Spark programme, has announced the names of the nine start-ups as the first cohort from Nov 2022 to Mar 2023:
Web 3:
- Nervotec: Healthcare analytics as a service to monitor medical-grade vital signs
- NFT Circle: Digitalisation of physical assets, real estate and arts as a service
- Heros: Enable athletes to monetise their careers through fan engagements and rewards
FinTech:
- D-Risk: Assists companies to manage credit risk efficiently, accurately and affordably with AI
- Corgi.AI: A fraud prevention AI plug-in helping businesses better understand and prevent fraud
Enterprise SaaS:
- Linh.AI: Solution for higher quality and cost-effective data annotation
- Better Data: AI synthetic data provider
- Zapkad: A smart digital business card with comprehensive features worldwide
- Xrator: Forges cyber-resilience for all organisations
“We are proud to be collaborating with IMDA on the Spark Incubator Programme and help local early-stage start-ups commercialise, strengthen their technological capability and raise funds effectively,” said Foo Fang Yong, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei International. “Working alongside these most promising start-ups provides co-creation and innovative opportunities where together we can bring greater value to our customers and upscale Singapore’s economic competitiveness in the long-term. We pledge to continue driving innovation with our start-up’s alumni from Singapore to Asia Pacific and even further, providing a global platform for the most ground-breaking and transformational companies to thrive.”
“Start-ups participating in the Spark Incubator Programme can look forward to dedicated mentorship and access to facilities,” said Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, IMDA. “The programme brings together Huawei’s expertise and IMDA PIXEL’s facilities in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, as well as the network of 12,000 solutions providers under IMDA’s Open Innovation Platform (OIP). These help Singapore start-ups build world-class products and scale across the region.”
Throughout this incubator programme, participants can look to receive HUAWEI CLOUD credits up to US$60,000, up to US$75,000 fee-free processing on Stripe, office space at PIXEL, as well as additional mentorship from Huawei and its like-minded industry partners such as IMDA, Stripe, AngelCentral, MasterCard, Monk’s Hill, GSR Ventures, Lion X Ventures, OCBC, Mycelium Ventures and DocuSign.
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