Singapore’s NRF calling for more incubators

The National Research Foundation (NRF), an organization set up by the Singapore government to fund R&D and technopreneurship, is calling for more incubators to participate in its Technology Incubation Scheme (TIS).

The announcement was made by Dr Francis Yeoh, the CEO of NRF at Techventure 2011 on 14th October.

In the first call for proposal in 2009, seven technology incubators were selected and they have invested in 31 startups and provided management guidance and mentorship. This latest expansion is the result of the “success of the scheme”, the organization said in a press release.

Under this program, the NRF co-invests 85 percent of the funds, while the incubators contribute the rest. Private investors have autonomy to decide who to accept into the program.

Individuals who are interested to apply under the scheme may find more details in the press release. Applications will be selected by the NRF’s panel of experts.

Past startups that have incubated under TIS include Stream Media, an in-app mobile payment solutions developer, and Adzcentral, an advertising solutions company.

“Branding and credentials are very important in the B2B business, especially when the clients and partners are foreign companies and MNCs. The TIS scheme lends us credibility and enables us to leverage on the Singapore brand overseas, in addition to financial resources to scale our operations and sales activities,” said Chua Zi Yong, CEO of Stream Media.

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