Ten weeks down, two weeks to go.
The Deeptech Accelerator programme may be concluding soon for our second cohort of deeptech startups, but work carries on as usual for us, within and across our tech ecosystems.
And while 2020 may have been a challenging year full of ups and downs for many, there is much room for optimism, especially on the deeptech frontier. Despite the ongoing pandemic, deeptech is on track to lead the way for technological change in the new decade. In Europe, investments in deep technologies have remained steadfast at €9.4 billion for 2020 despite the instability caused by the coronavirus, and over in Singapore, the government has pledged up to $300 million in co-investments through its latest deeptech co-investment scheme.
The resilience demonstrated in these testing times by corporates, investors, public sector workers and other ecosystem players is nothing short of extraordinary and we are now starting to witness the reactivation of the startup scene all across the globe.
With safe distancing measures still in place for the most part worldwide, Singapore-based Cognicept Systems led by Michael Sayre and team has bucked recessionary trends by successfully securing a large contract with a security and surveillance provider in Singapore, having proved the validity of their unique human-in-the-loop technology.
Over in Germany, Dr Günther Hoffmann from LexaTexer and MedaPlus continues pursuing its foray into Southeast Asia, and remains on track to incorporate its business in Singapore later this year. Both startups run by Dr Hoffmann have also been voted into the top 10 of the InnovateSingapore programme, and MedaPlus has even been shortlisted as one of the top 100 startups for SLINGSHOT 2020, which concluded in December last year.
Even as we gear up for the conclusion of the Deeptech Accelerator programme with this cohort, work to support and facilitate the business development plans of our startups continues. With the present cohort, post-programme plans are in the pipeline in 2021 for pilots to be conducted across a myriad of industries. Some of the projects in the making include a potential deal with an Asian construction company, as well as healthtech co-developments. We also look forward to connecting our startups with relevant corporates and public agencies throughout the year, and hope to help them fulfil their business goals.
On that note, we would like to convey our genuine appreciation to the mentors and coaches who have been working tirelessly to help our startups hone their go-to-market plan as well as expansion strategies. Feedback from the startups has been overwhelmingly positive:
| Borja Gomez has been our mentor and advisor during the IoT Tribe accelerator. His contribution has been invaluable! Borja is a very kind, approachable, communicative and knowledgeable person that you enjoy a lot to work with and always finds the way to make you think out of the box. His expertise in sales and business development helped us fully reshape our value proposition, from a feature-based to native business value showcasing to our customers the true value of our company. Dr Niklas Palaghias, CEO, Quadible |
Best of all — there is the IoT Tribe Tech Games for the cohort to look forward to, which will commence on 25 February, from 8.30AM (UKT/GMT) / 4.30PM (SGT/GMT+8) onwards. If you are interested to learn more about the revolutionary tech solutions that the startups have developed, this is certainly an event not to be missed.
