October 20, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
Singapore’s biggest business plan competition is here again, and their official launch will see Mr. Hsieh Fu Hua, CEO of SGX as the Guest of Honour and also speaking at the panel will be Mr. Tan Kai Hoe, Deputy CEO of SPRING Singapore. Read more
June 1, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
After 3 intense rounds of judging over a period of 8 months, the winners of Start-Up@Singapore 2009 were revealed at the Awards Ceremony on 30 May 2009.
Open Category winner, Zimplistic with their winning invention of the Rotimatic walked away with $40,000. Winner of the Youth Category, E-Thermnity won $10,000 with their baby milk bottle that changes colour according to the temperature of their content. Read more
May 28, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
Out of 940 teams, 12 remain. These final 12 will battle it out during the finals this Saturday in the General and Youth categories for S$40,000 and S$10,000 respectively.
If you’re keen to monitor your heartbeat through your mobile phone or want a automated roti-maker to rival your rice cooker, check out the upcoming Start-Up@Singapore 2009 Finals and Awards Ceremony. Read more
May 23, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
Calling all enterprising students, aspiring entrepreneurs, curious onlookers and anyone else who wants to turn his or her ideas into the next big thing. The much-awaited Start-Up@Singapore 2009 Awards Ceremony is finally here!
May 19, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
Start-Up@Singapore put together for the first time the Social Enterprise Challenge competition and panel discussion session.
By SRUTHY KUMAR (email)
19 MAY 2009— Held in the engineering auditorium of the NUS Faculty of Engineering, this focused event was the first of its kind among the series of educational events held by Start-Up@Singapore.
Aligned as an awareness-based and fun approach to entrepreneurial thinking, participants were given the challenge of finding or taking a photograph of a social problem and submitting a one-page business proposal that would serve as a sustainable solution to the problem.
The winning entries were then discussed by our distinguished panelists Ms. Elim Chew and Mr. Alvin Lim.
Ms. Chew, better known as the founder of young people’s streetwear label 77th Street, is also part of many other youth organizations such as Singapore Street Festival and PaTH (Pop and Talent Hub), advocating social entrepreneurship through the youth community in Singapore.
Mr. Alvin Lim is CEO of Bizlink Centre, which aims to give financial independence and dignity to the disabled and needy community by providing various employment opportunities.
The panel discussion was moderated by yet another gentleman knowledgeable and active in the field of social enterprise, Associate Professor Albert Teo from the University Scholars Programme at the National University of Singapore.
After having established the three components that are at the core of most social enterprises, namely innovation, social mission and market orientation, the speakers were grilled on the challenges and problems the speakers faced when raising their respective social enterprises.
“It’s not easy to run a business while helping other people at the same time. When you step into the field of social enterprise, you need to remember that you’re stepping into new ground,” said Ms. Chew about the uncertainty that budding entrepreneurs can expect when thinking of starting a social enterprise.
Speakers also shared real life stories about people they have met and empowered, who have gone on to start various social enterprises to help people and the larger society. Examples included the winners of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award such as Jack Sim founder of the World Toilet Organisation and Kenny Low of O-School, a dance school that makes professional dancers of school dropouts, and equips them with the finances to go back and complete school.
Questions from the floor included how the social impacts of a social enterprise are measured, where entrepreneurs can look for incubation and what the panelists think about the stigma that surrounds social enterprises about being profit driven.
The discussion finally wrapped up with one interesting thought that was shared by Ms Chew about inculcating an enterprising spirit. “You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to engage in social enterprise. If you’re good at management, you can link up with another social entrepreneur to bring the organization to the next level. What’s important is that you cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset and challenge yourself in coming up with new ideas to tackle new problems.”
The day wound up with the prize presentation to the winning entries of the challenge. The first placed entry was awarded $400 and the second and third placed entries were each awarded $200 and $100 respectively.
Panelists and attendees then engaged in a dinner cum networking session during which all the speakers were able to share more of their insights on being in the industry and were able to advise the attendees on how they can involve themselves in the local social enterprise scene.
SGEntrepreneurs.com is the official blog of Start-Up@Singapore, the premier national business plan competition.
May 7, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
Always wanted to help society or contribute in some way but didn’t know how? Learn from the leaders themselves at the S@S Social Enterprise Challenge Panel Discussion! Read more
February 2, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
EXTENSION: Executive Summary Deadline now 6 Feb 2009!
In the past few hours, our executive summary submissions have been rising exponentially and we have received many requests to extend the submission deadline. In the interests of creating more opportunities for everyone, we have decided to extend our submission deadline to midnight (2359 hrs) of 6th February 2009 (Friday).
Teams that have already submitted their executive summaries may continue to edit and improve on their submissions during this period.
Participate in this enriching nation-wide business plan competition by submitting your 3-page Executive Summary! The Executive Summary, simplistically speaking, covers all the aspects related to your team’s business idea and its implementation.
More than S$200,000 worth of cash prizes are up for grabs! Winners also stand a chance to take part in other international competitions like the Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge and the Global Talentpreneur Innovation Competition. You will also have the opportunity to be among the 3 winners of the Media Development Authority-Interactive Digital Media (MDA-IDM) Special Category, standing the chance to win up to S$50,000 in grant money from MDA.
Take the first step today by visiting us at www.judging.startup.org.sg to register!
Can’t find team members? Make use of our team matching service!
For enquiries, please email us at info@startup.org.sg.
Best Regards,
The S@S’09 Team
Make Ideas Happen | www.startup.org.sg
About Start-Up@Singapore
Start-Up@Singapore is a nation-wide business plan competition organized by NUS Entrepreneurship Society and supported by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre and NUS Business School Alumni Association. Over the past ten years, we have attracted over 6000 participants and 1700 teams to participate in the competition. Start-Up@Singapore has also evolved to be a beacon for start-ups on their road to success. Till date, we have spun off over 60 start-ups.
Start-Up@Singapore is actually more than just a competition. Because we believe that the process from idea to product is educational, we organize seminars, networking session and workshops to help aspiring entrepreneurs with anything and everything that they would need to write a good Business Plan.
Start-Up@Singapore happens in several phases. To take part in the first phase, participants would need to submit an Executive Summary, which should cover all aspects of the team’s business idea and implementation.
After the Executive Summaries are submitted, experienced judges are invited to evaluate them. If the judges collectively deem a team’s Executive Summary to be promising, the team will proceed to the 2nd phase of Start-Up@Singapore. In this phase, the team will be required to broaden the Executive Summary into a full-fledged Business Plan and pitch it to a panel of experienced judges.
The winning teams will get to take home a substantial cash prize that may help them to turn their winning ideas into a money-making reality. Wait no further, Join Us now!
Guidelines for format of Executive Summary
The competition recommends that you submit your executive summary according to the following guidelines, which can be found on Page 6 of the Official Contestant Kit:
* Up to 3 A4 pages
* 1 inch borders all round
* Times New Roman font
* Font size 12
* Single spacing
* Pictures optional
* No appendices
* Upload in PDF version
* The file name will be overwritten by the Online Judging System automatically.
On top of the 3 pages, you may also include an additional cover page indicating your team name.
January 22, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
January 21, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
January 20, 2009 by Start-Up@Singapore
