The network, which runs independent startup accelerator program in Singapore, aims to accelerate the growth of the region’s seed-stage startups with the first 10 startups

Accelerating Asia (AA), an Enterprise Singapore-supported startup program focussing on early-stage companies has announced the launch of its initial accelerator cohort. The cohort features 10 startups from the verticals of remittance, transportation, and human resources across Asia.

AA said that the program seeks to identify and accelerate the seed-stage startup’s development in Asia. Along with the launch, AA is close in finalising its pre-seed VC fund in July with up to US$5 million ready to be invested in over 40 regional startups.

Speaking about how Accelerating Asia will fit into the ecosystem, Craig Dixon, Co-Founder, Entrepreneur in Residence and Program Director, Accelerating Asia said,

“There is a profile of more mature startups in the region who are too advanced for existing accelerator programs but are not quite ready for institutional venture funding. These startups are led by incredible founders and have great financial and customer traction, but are still missing some key elements they need to scale to success.”

In its first cohort, AA welcomes startups in verticals such as big data, e-commerce, human resources, logistics, software-as-a-service, transportation, and remittances; hailing from all over Asia including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Also Read: Meet the 10 finalists in the 2nd batch of Grab Ventures Velocity

“AA’s program is specifically designed to provide our startups with the necessary funding, mentorship, and support they need to scale their growth,” said Amra Naidoo, Co-Founder, Partnerships & Operations Director, Accelerating Asia.

“As an independent accelerator with various revenue streams that ensure long-term sustainability, we don’t rely on one source of funding and thus can better aligning our outcomes with the startups we work with and ensuring that our founders will always be our priority from day one.”

The program itself has two parts: a three month program period with weekly activities followed by a one-month final period which includes a Startup Mastery Program in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

It will be followed by a Demo Day where founders will pitch their startups to a private audience of the investors in the region, multinationals, government partners, and other relevant ecosystem players.

Let’s take a look at Accelerating Asia’s 10 participating startups:

  • BeamAndGo (Philippines), payment and digital marketplace that empowers migrant workers by giving them control over how their remittances are spent by their families back home, all through the use of SMS text gift certificates.
  • Datanest (Indonesia), a Data Science as a Service Startup that helps companies to drive their performance and profitability through an AI and Machine Learning algorithms. By employing AI and ML algorithms, Datanest helps the client forecast issues, identify trends, and abnormal behaviour, ultimately optimising a company’s workflow process.
  • DeafTawk (Pakistan), an online sign language interpretation services that empower deaf community across the globe by bridging the communication gap. It provides online sign language interpretation services, audio-video translation services, and sign language training.
  • Klaud9 (Singapore), an online platform that matches photographers and brands to create amazing photos for their social media & marketing campaigns. It helps brands to scale their photo shoots across the region within 24 hours and low cost.
  • Loop (Bangladesh), a technology-enabled marketplace for full truckload freight by using software that creates a communication, payment, and data infrastructure for shippers and carriers.
  • Medlink (Vietnam), a healthtech that connects consumers, pharmacies, and pharmaceutical company in Vietnam by ensuring that customers have access to authentic medication, preventing the circulation of counterfeit and low-quality products.
  • Panalyt (Singapore), a startup that puts actionable people analytics in the hands of managers across organisations through user-friendly dashboards and AI-driven insights.
  • TalentTribe (Singapore), a millennial recruitment platform that is reimagining recruitment for a new generation of job seekers, and helps employers hire early-career talent that fits. The platform provides job seekers with insights that they deeply care about, in turn connecting them to jobs that they truly resonate with.
  • Web2Ship (Malaysia), a booking platform for logistics in Asia that help online sellers to search, compare and book different courier and postal services by identifying the best shipping services.
  • Zantrik (Bangladesh), an automotive service and resource platform that ensures seamless and standard maintenance experience for vehicles, by connecting service providers and applying quality assurance standards.

Participating startups will each receive S$100,000 (US$73,150) in funding, office space in Downtown Singapore, and facilities with providers such as Amazon Web Services, Hubspot, and Tribe Theory.

Also Read: e27 partners AsiaIOA and iCube Innovation to enhance startups, investor ecosystem

The announcement of AA’s cohort comes after its launch of the ASEAN Smart Cities Accelerator (ASCA), a joint partnership with the Australian government that will support entrepreneurs with ideas to promote the development of smart cities in the region. Its first Demo Day will take place on October 3rd, 2019 and applications for the next cohort will open in early October.
–

The post Accelerating Asia launches seed-stage accelerator cohort appeared first on e27.