Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 7, 2014

Singapore crowdfunding site officially launches with 11 projects

Singapore telco StarHub has officially launched its crowdfunding site with 11 projects from across Asia, including assistive technology and what is touted to be the world’s first mechanical smartwatch hybrid. 


First announced as a beta launch in April, the Crowdtivate fundraising platform is now open to the general public and offers mentorship and consultancy to help entrepreneurs design effective campaigns. The website will also provide additional support, based on response from financial backers, related to business incubation and regional expansion, StarHub said in a statement Tuesday. Projects will also be selected to receive added help such as access to test users, marketing support, startup fundings, infrastructure support, and free software development. 


The Singapore telco has roped in local businesses to provide mentorship, including Home-Fix Experience Centre, National Book Development Council of Singapore, and NUS Design Incubation Centre.


Indonesian telco Indosat also inked a partnership agreement with StarHub to add Crowdtivate projects to its local innovation portfolio including Ideabox, and enable Indonesia startups to raise funds and access mentorship. 


Stephen Lee, head of StarHub’s innovation, investment, and incubation business unit i3, said in the statement: “Since the beta launch of Crowdtivate in April 2014, we have received hundreds of project proposals for crowdfunding. These past three months were spent with the entrepreneurs developing a strong marketing and promotional campaign that we believe will inspire the crowdfunding community.”


Eleven projects are currently listed on the site, though, three are still in preview stage and funds collection isn’t available for these companies. The majority are based out of Singapore, while two are from Malaysia and one from Hong Kong.


Currently leading the pack with over S$4,300 raised so far, Hong Kong-based Ambi Climate is a standalone device that is able to control any air conditioner with a remote control and automatically adjust the right indoor temperature. Second on the list is Malaysia-based WaryBee, with about S$430 generated so far. The wearable device works as a panic button that can be triggered to automatically send the wearer’s location information and call an emergency number. 


One project that’s currently in preview is Singapore-based Kairos, which is touting itself to be the world’s first mechanical smartwatch hybrid, combining traditional watch-making traits with current-day technologies.  


Members of the public who are keen to contribute funds can sign up for a free account on Crowdtivate or login with their Facebook or Linkedin user ID to browse projects. Contributions can be made through PayPal or major credit cards.



Singapore crowdfunding site officially launches with 11 projects

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