Crowdfunding has taken off in a big way in the United States, with startups like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and Quirky getting huge traction.
In Asia however, crowdfunding is a foreign notion. But ToGather.Asia, a Singapore-based startup that claims to be the first in Asia, hopes this will change soon.
Their website essentially allows anyone to post up ideas for creative projects, social initiatives, and innovations and seek funding from the public to turn them into reality. The money will only be passed to the project creators once the target is met.
There’s no equity exchange involved, so the funding is the form of donation pledges.
The site has just entered public beta this month, and five projects are open to public donations. Read more
Education in university can be a mixed bag: The quality of a module or course is very dependent on the professor that’s teaching it and the curriculum he or she has planned.
Some lecturers can’t teach even if their lives depend on it, and that mean a near-empty lecture hall abandoned by disgruntled students who would be better off reading their notes on their own.
ModuleReview aims to help students make better decisions by being a one-stop location for peer evaluation of courses.
Students can leave comments on the content, teaching staff, workload, and personal experiences while undergoing the module, and leave scores for each of these components. Read more
The YES! Startup scheme, a government seed fund that has been around since 2008, is no more. It is being replaced by ACE Startups, which will accept applications from 1st February.
The new initiative was announced at a press conference today, and is positioned as an improvement on YES! Startup.
While YES! had an upper age limit of 26, ACE will do away with this requirement to cater to older applicants like mid-career professionals, retirees, and seniors (more about older entrepreneurs). Read more
Customizable desserts and beverages have been around for quite awhile. From customized yogurts to make-your-own gelato, Singaporeans have been spoilt for choice when it comes to satisfying their sweet tooth.
So it’s only a matter of time that someone applies the same concept to milkshakes, which of late seemed to be playing second fiddle to the ever-popular bubble tea. Read more
Classifieds like Craigslist primarily cater to service providers. If they want to offer something — a house for rent, a job, or a used car — they can post an ad on the website and wait for queries to flood in.
Seeksquare, a YES! Startup funded company, flips the concept of classifieds upside-down.
Instead of forcing users to manually pour through hundreds of classified ads, Seeksquare lets consumers take the initiative by posting ads about what they are seeking, and wait for service providers to send in quotations to them. Read more
Last Saturday, 21st May 2011 was the finals and awards ceremony of the 12th Start-Up@Singapore business plan competition. There were three categories this year in which participants could contest in: Open, Youth and Cooperative. All the finalists had to pitch to a panel of judges in private and after, during the public awards ceremony, present a one-minute elevator pitch to the audience. Here are the profiles of the three category winners, taken from the S@S site: Read more
With SPRING’s YES! fund targeting young entrepreneurs, many school kids under the age of 26 have a new source of funding for their startups. Read more
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