Huawei and IMDA tie up to groom startups in building customer-centric products

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Huawei has launched the inaugural Spark Incubator programme as part of its partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) PIXEL Innovation Hub. With this partnership, IMDA and Huawei will jointly help startups build customer-centric products by tapping on advice from PIXEL’s panel of consultants in Design Thinking and UI/UX with Digital Storytelling, along with access to lead corporate demand through IMDA’s Open Innovation Platform (OIP).

It targets early-stage Singapore-based startups in the pre-seed and seed space from sectors including fintech, Web3, metaverse and software as a service (SaaS) focused enterprises, and aims to support their growth to Series A and expansion in Singapore and ASEAN region.

The programme aims to incubate up to 12 startups per cohort for a period of five months and will be run twice over the span of a year. It will provide access to resources and expertise from Huawei and IMDA to further accelerate and grow their business. Startups are expected to receive third party financing over SG$250k or increase their valuation by at least 20%, or cross SG$250k at its annual revenue in the post-programme.

“We are proud to be collaborating with IMDA on the Spark Incubator Programme, and help local early-stage startups commercialise, strengthen their technological capability, and raise funds effectively. Working alongside these most promising startups provides co-creation and innovative opportunities where together we can bring greater value to our customers, and upscale Singapore’s economic competitiveness in the long-term. We pledge to continue driving innovation with our startup’s alumni from Singapore to Asia Pacific and even further, providing a global platform for the most ground-breaking and transformational companies to thrive,” said Foo Fang Yong, chief executive officer of Huawei International.

“Startups participating in the Spark Incubator Programme can look forward to dedicated mentorship and access to facilities. The programme brings together Huawei’s expertise and IMDA PIXEL’s facilities in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, as well as the network of 12,000 solutions providers under IMDA’s Open Innovation Platform (OIP). These help Singapore startups build world-class products and scale across the region,” said Lew Chuen Hong, chief executive, IMDA.

Throughout this incubator programme, participants can look to receive HUAWEI CLOUD credits up to US$60,000, up to $75,000 fee-free processing on Stripe, office space at PIXEL, as well as additional mentorship from Huawei and its like-minded industry partners such as IMDA, Stripe, AngelCentral, MasterCard, Monk’s Hill, GSR Ventures, Lion X Ventures, OCBC, Mycelium Ventures and DocuSign.

Additionally, startups can leverage Huawei services to enhance their product capabilities and receive dedicated technical support from Huawei Solution Architects. They will also benefit from sessions including the 1-1 mentorship.