According to a recent
announcement, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), one of the largest
global entrepreneurship organisations. With a network of 11,000 members
globally, India currently constitutes one third of TiE’s global membership. The
MOU was signed ahead of Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi’s visit to
Singapore.
India’s startup ecosystem ranks third globally, with over
4,750 startups. Its key focus areas include e-commerce, fintech, healthtech and
edutech. The number of startups in India grew 12% in 2016 and is expected to
cross 10,000 by 2020. In 2017, the value of startup funding amounted to
approximately US$13.7 billion, significantly higher than the $4.06 billion of
2016 and the $8.4billion of 2015.
The growth is fuelled by (1) increased Government support
through startup schemes that eased registration and gave Indian startups
priority in Government-led projects, and (2) rising middle class which led to a
boom in startups tapping into the consumer space.
The ESG-TiE collaboration kickstarts the Singapore-India
Incubation Programme by Startup SG, led
by Enterprise Singapore, with the support of Trade Associations and Chambers (TAC)
and startup partners.
Mr Tan Soon Kim, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of
Enterprise Singapore, said, “India is an up-and-coming hotspot for global startups
and businesses. The growth of India’s startup landscape has been remarkable.
The Singapore-India Incubation Programme aims to introduce ideas and concepts
between the ecosystems of both countries and foster collaboration between
companies in each other’s markets and in Southeast Asia.”
“Over time, we aim to establish a series of key innovation
nodes within India to form an innovation network for Singapore companies to tap
on,” Mr Tan added.
Currently supported by eight partners, the Programme aims to
foster collaboration between Singapore and Indian startups through
jointly-organised networking events, workshops and sessions with in-market
mentors.
As a start, TiE will be running a startup mission in July
with ten Singapore startups to meet with Indian startups, corporates, mentors
and investors to partner and co-innovate solutions in fintech, e-services and
deep tech.
Mr Puneet Pushkarna, Chairman of TiE Singapore, said, “The
strategic collaboration between TiE and Enterprise Singapore would strengthen
the bridge between India and Singapore’s startup ecosystem, which today are
amongst the most vibrant in the world.”
“We are confident that the platform would further
proliferate networking amongst innovators and allow for the development and
adoption of ideas, flow of capital and implementation of technically
challenging solutions for the betterment of the society at large,” Mr Pushkarna
said.
In line with the Incubation Programme by Startup SG,
Enterprise Singapore will be organising an iAdvisory Seminar titled “Startups
in India” on 12 June 2018, to help Singapore companies understand the startup
landscape in India, opportunities and how to enter the market.
At the same time, Enterprise Singapore also inked an MOU
with the National Skills Development
Corporation (NSDC) India. The signing will be witnessed by Indian Prime
Minister Mr Narendra Modi and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations and
Minister for Communications and Information, Mr S. Iswaran.
The MOU will facilitate the entry of Singapore vocational
training companies into India to support the skills needs of the beauty and
wellness, F&B, and construction and facilities management sectors.
As a start, Singapore vocational training
companies can tap into several of NSDC’s financing schemes, such as soft loan
for equipment and equity injection for joint venture projects with Indian
training companies.
