Mr Teo Ser Luck at the Ideas.Inc. Starting Up 2012 Conference

​SPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND CHAIRMAN OF ACTION COMMUNITY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AT THE IDEAS.INC. STARTING UP 2012 CONFERENCE, ON 22 SEPTEMBER 2012, 10.15 AM, COMPASS BALLROOM (EAST), RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA CONVENTION CENTRE

Professor Freddy Boey, Provost, Nanyang Technological University,

Associate Professor Hooi Den Huan, Director, Nanyang Technopreneurship Center,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

I am honoured to be invited here today to witness six differentiated start-ups receiving their due recognition for their business ideas. As Chairman of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, or ACE, I am glad to start today’s discussion on a topic that I hold close to heart – the importance of entrepreneurship to the sustainable development of a country and its people.

Importance of entrepreneurship

I will first talk about the importance of entrepreneurship. First, entrepreneurs generate wealth and create good jobs for the communities in which they operate. For a small and resource-scarce nation like Singapore, it is imperative for us to encourage risk-taking entrepreneurs to start and build sustainable businesses and create good jobs for Singaporeans. In fact, seven in ten workers in Singapore are employed by SMEs, with one in ten employed by start-ups.  SMEs are the backbone of the economy, contributing more than 50 per cent of our GDP. By generating jobs for Singaporeans, our entrepreneurs are unsung heroes that help many of our workers provide for their families.

Secondly, entrepreneurs contribute to the communities they operate in, often by meeting the needs of the community. For example, Dr Louis Phee, an engineering professor from NTU, collaborated with a professor of medicine from NUS to create a robotic system which reduces patient discomfort and complication risks in surgical operations. While they are the proud winner of the “best pitch” award at an Investors Forum organised by ACE and Exploit Technologies, recently, it’s more important for us to note that entrepreneurial ventures such as these make a difference to the quality of people’s lives.

Entrepreneurs also help solve real-world problems. For instance, Varun Arora and Li Yi founded local start-up Pechora Technologies, which set up gotocamera.com to help people monitor their homes, families, and businesses using any off-the-shelf webcam. Gotocamera.com combined security and peace-of-mind with affordability and convenience, a winning formula which has helped the company reach out to subscribers from 180 countries, which is almost 90 per cent of the globe.  Awak Technologies also created, in Singapore, a device which may have an impact on the millions of dialysis patients around the world – an automated wearable kidney just the size of a lady’s purse which will allows kidney patients unprecedented freedom through “dialysis-on-the-go”. These examples show us that Singapore entrepreneurs are solving global problems and hitting the global markets quickly too. We need more of such go-getting entrepreneurs, especially those who are ambitious enough to set their sights beyond Singapore. Our entrepreneurs will help define the character of our nation, and help us make our mark in the world as an entrepreneurial nation.

ACE helps aspiring entrepreneurs to start up

Recognising the important role that entrepreneurs play, the Government is fully behind entrepreneurship development, and formed ACE in 2003 to drive the entrepreneurship movement in Singapore.  ACE’s primary focus is to create a conducive environment and culture for businesses to grow. Over the years, ACE continues to grow the culture of entrepreneurship and to support businesses in areas like financing, rules and regulations and internationalisation. For the past six years, Singapore has been ranked by the World Bank as the world’s easiest place to do business. This is a strong affirmation of our favourable climate and positive support for entrepreneurship.

We have done well in developing the culture of entrepreneurship among the youths in Singapore. We reach out to tens of thousands of youths and students through the ACE Speakers Circuit and other initiatives where our successful businessmen share their experience with the budding entrepreneurs, and guide and inspire them in their journey towards success. Hence, it is certainly not surprising that a recent survey conducted by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre showed that 80 per cent of tertiary students here welcome the idea of starting a business.

However, despite their enthusiasm, the survey revealed that merely one per cent of the students have set up their own business.

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The low conversion rate tells us that having a good environment and popular buy-in for entrepreneurship, are not sufficient because the entrepreneurial intention is not translated into concrete action.  Thus, we need to take action.

I had this in mind when I set the new direction for the team at ACE this year. ACE will now also help first-time entrepreneurs materialise their business ideas and build sustainable businesses. Besides seed funding, entrepreneurs will get a firmer leg-up if they have access to critical resources, such as mentors and networks, both local and overseas. Through the ACE Beijing Chapter, which was set up in June this year, we provide entrepreneurs with the resources to springboard into other markets This is where the involvement from the private sector, comprising mainly successful businessmen and entrepreneurs such as Dr Steven Fang of Cordlife Limited, Mr Adrin Loi of Ya Kun, and Mr Benedict Soh of Kingsmen Creative, would be crucial.

ACE Initiatives show positive outcomes

Launched in February this year, close to 350 applications have been received for the ACE Start-ups scheme over the last six months.  This is more than four times the number of applications received under the Young Entrepreneurs’ Scheme for Start-ups (YES! Start-ups) for the same duration, and points to an encouraging trend that more people are taking the first step towards starting their own businesses. 

As part of the ACE Start-up Scheme application process, the ACE evaluation panel, consisting of experienced entrepreneurs, angel investors and venture capitalists, looks closely at whether the idea is differentiated and if it will provide a competitive edge for the business. Through the evaluation of this panel, we have identified and are currently supporting 20 ACE Start-ups with funding and mentoring. For those who applied but did not succeed, we encourage you to try again. We welcome you to participate in the ACE events and workshops, where you can learn how to fine tune your business ideas from the ACE mentors.

We have seen very positive progress and results from some of these ACE Start-up recipients. A case in point is Mr Alfred Leong, who left a well-paying job in a local IT Firm to start All ID Asia.  All ID Asia has developed an integrated Automatic Identification and Data Collection solution platform. Its system is now being used by companies for ID card management and visitor management. Barely five months old, its revenue is already growing month-on-month. Not one to rest on his laurels, Alfred says that they are developing new software to add to their existing product offerings.

ACE is also proud to be supporting Uberquery, an online B2B platform that enables deal sites to source for products on a global platform. The founder, Yow Yong Hui, put his studies on hold to pursue his entrepreneurial dream and has persevered despite facing challenges, such as working with a co-founder who is based overseas.  This is the kind of determination and dedication that we need in our entrepreneurs.

ACE partners to co-manage ACE- Start-ups applications

In our work in promoting entrepreneurship, ACE works with multiple partners who also support start-ups, including Government agencies such as SPRING, IDA, MDA and NRF, as well as private-sector partners and other institutions.

I cannot emphasise enough the role that Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) can play in this. As knowledge institutions, they do not just educate some of the brightest minds in the country, but also prepare our youths to become the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators.  Apart from business skills, our IHLs run incubators and accelerators, and open doors to opportunities for their students. Because such support systems are in place and our IHLs are doing a good job in cultivating our young entrepreneurs, our aspiring student entrepreneurs are fortunate indeed.  MTI, which oversees ACE, is now working with MOE to see how entrepreneurship can be cultivated further in our students.

I would like to commend the Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre (NTC) for contributing to the start-up landscape and for working directly with the budding entrepreneurs. NTC has launched numerous differentiated start-ups through platforms like today’s ideas.inc., such as  Soyato and Sorgen. Soyato took second place in 2010’s ideas.inc. It also makes delicious soy ice cream. From selling ice cream over the counter from a single stall at the basement of Bugis Junction, the company is now distributing to schools, supermarkets, restaurants and hotels. Sorgen, on the other hand, was one of two start-ups which won the top incubation award of $100,000 in 2011. It also walked away with the “Most Innovative Start-up” award.  Using its own proprietary technology, Sorgen created an intelligent walking frame with GlydSafe^TM wheels for the silver market.  The company is preparing its first batch of GlydSafe^TM walking frames to meet orders which are streaming in from private hospitals and rehabilitation centres. With the entire world facing a greying population, the potential markets are huge, including Japan, Korea and various parts of China. I encourage start-ups to dream big and cast their sights further and not limit yourselves to Singapore, or even the region.

We need more partners like NTC, who have the capabilities to identify, seed, and nurture differentiated start-ups. I understand that the start-ups are channelled through a rigorous and structured programme — where they receive essential skills and knowledge, validation of their business ideas, as well as mentoring – all of which are necessary to prepare the start-ups not just for the competition but also for the business world.  ACE is therefore pleased to be able to work with ideas.inc. to provide the $50,000 ACE-ideas.inc Start-ups Grant for  each of the six finalists to bring their winning business proposals to fruition.

On this note, I would like to welcome on board 12 partners for the ACE Start-ups scheme. They are: Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, ITE College East, the Social Enterprise Association (SE Association), the Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SITF), and *scape.  In addition to evaluating applications for the ACE Start-ups scheme, our partners will commit additional resources, such as mentoring, incubation, and funding, to support and nurture these start-ups.  With such strong support from our IHL and industry partners, I am confident that we can look forward to seeding even more stellar start-ups in the near future.

Conclusion

Together with our partners, ACE has set the stage and we warmly welcome aspiring entrepreneurs to come on this entrepreneurship journey. Your journey will not be a lonely one. Talk to us or any of our partners. Sound us out on your business idea, no matter how small or trivial it may seem. ACE Start-ups is open to all aspiring entrepreneurs, and this includes each and every one of you in the audience today.

Now, back to the stars of today’s event — the finalists for this year’s ideas.inc. I offer to all of you my heartiest congratulations. Make good use of the ACE-ideas.inc Start-ups grant that you will receive to not just start your business, but to grow it, and make a global impact. 

I wish all of you a fruitful conference. Thank you.

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Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) 2011