B.E.A.M first started out as a networking event covering Singapore, Malaysia and Japan
There are a few ways to make connections in the tech ecosystem; you can trawl through directories in tech blogs such as e27, sign up to funding platforms such as Gust or attend networking events.
Singapore-based [Updated: Malaysia-based] startup B.E.A.M now offers another solution: an app. While there are many apps that connect startups with investors or developers with startups, very few aim to be a hub for every participant in the tech ecosystem.
B.E.A.M, which stands for “Bridging Entrepreneurs and Movers”, first began at the end of 2015 as a series of community events designed to connect entrepreneurs in Singapore, foster collaborations and facilitate investor matchmaking.
Soon, it expanded to Malaysia and Japan and was held on a monthly/two monthly basis. B.E.A.M sees 150-200 participants per event, and currently, collaborates with over 50 different companies ranging from startups, accelerators, equity crowdfund companies and coworking spaces.
Three weeks ago, B.E.A.M launched its BEAM Connect app in Singapore, available both on iOS and Android, to complement its events model. The invite-only platform lists every player in the tech ecosystem including founders, investors, developers, journalists, legal advisors and executives. Users can filter their searches by countries, job type and more.
“We wanted to create an incredibly simple and safe way for startup founders to connect and collaborate with each other. We also wanted to simplify the process of allowing investors, journalists, or developers to get in touch with these founders running incredible ventures,” said Ken Ho, Founder of B.E.A.M in an official press statement.
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Besides its directory, B.E.A.M also has a ‘Community’ tab. It features curated news from tech blogs, a list of panellists from B.E.A.M’s previous community events. It also allows users to contact business development executives, developers and investors or apply to start their own B.E.A.M chapter, as well as send out invites to their friends.
“There is a lot of noise in the world around us, and we want to filter that out by curating only what is totally relevant for entrepreneurs. This makes it much easier for people to keep up to date with what’s happening around the ecosystem without having to sieve through a continuous stream of irrelevant news articles,” said Ho.
Currently, activity on the platform is fairly muted given its infancy. However, B.E.A.M already has onboarded 500 users and claims 100 more are on the waiting list. Its pool of existing users includes executives from startups, VCs and accelerators such as Paktor, Glints, Crowdo, Helpr, Fatfish, WatchTower & Friends, PitchIn and Mdec.
B.E.A.M has no plans to monetise the app for now and instead derives revenue from ticket sales of its community events. Its short-term goal is to run more events and leverage the app to reconnect and communicate to attendees.
It is in talks to raise a seed round and will hold its next event in Singapore on August 11.
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Image Credit: B.E.A.M
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