The Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) last 25-28 October was back this year to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, innovators, and industry players to elevate the global-Asia innovation ecosystem. 

Focusing on deep tech applications, it provides opportunities for closer collaboration and knowledge-sharing among startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, investors, corporate and innovation departments, research and development organisations, and local and international government bodies. 

Last year, more than 15,000 participants from 42 countries gathered at SWITCH. This year, SWITCH is back bigger as an entirely in-person conference, comprising innovation programmes including a Sectoral Thought Leadership Stage, Market Access Sessions, and Industry Exhibition Showcases and Roundtable sessions. 

One of its much-anticipated events is the SLINGSHOT 2022 Startup Pitching Sector Finals and Grand Finals, organised by Enterprise SG in collaboration with AWS to provide extra support to participating startups. Returning for its sixth edition this year, SLINGSHOT 2022 gave global startups a chance to immerse in Singapore’s innovative business landscape and explore opportunities to grow and expand within the region’s vibrant market. 

SLINGSHOT2022 was open to global startups currently working on either one of the five emerging challenge domains: Transformative Digital Technologies; Environment, Energy, and Green Technology; Consumer Media, Goods, and Services; Health and Biomedical; Manufacturing, Trade, and Connectivity. The Top 50 startups will receive a sponsored trip to Singapore for the grand finals during SWITCH, to showcase and pitch their startups for a chance to win SGD 1.2 million worth of prizes. 

Opening doors for startups in ASEAN

SLINGSHOT, organised by Enterprise SG, has made it possible for the top startups to experience an eye-opening immersion in Singapore’s business and innovation industry. Enterprise SG sought to encourage startups to realise their potential and design solutions to accelerate their growth in the region and beyond through this initiative. 

Enterprise SG has collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enable the SLINGSHOT 2022 participating startups to access important tools and services that can help them realise plans for their products.

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AWS has supported the SLINGSHOT finalists by lending its cloud computing expertise and providing mentorship. Through the AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp, a programme meant to guide early-stage startups in building and launching solutions in different sectors including health, digital government, agriculture, smart cities, and space technology, the finalists gained access to AWS’s global community of startup members and partners, relevant training, and AWS credits.  

AWS also supported startups through AWS Activate, which provided tools, resources, content, and expert support to help startups build, accelerate, and scale at every stage.

Samuel Harris, Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS, said, “AWS is committed to supporting all startups with the tools, guidance, and mentorship they need to transform industries. We are happy to collaborate with Enterprise SG on SLINGSHOT 2022 to inspire startups to build and innovate on AWS Cloud, and help to accelerate and scale businesses that drive societal benefits and economic development.”

Building global networks with the AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes were held globally in three Amazon offices: San Francisco (September 16), London (September 20), and Hyderabad (September 23). The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes are intended for startups to learn more about that programmes and resources which can be leveraged to build and scale innovative solutions on AWS, as well as how they could accelerate growth via Enterprise Singapore to expand their businesses to Singapore and the region.

The three locations were chosen as they were startup hotspots and had an influx of registrations for SLINGSHOT. AWS and ESG jointly organised these sessions – inviting startups within their networks to join the sessions and tapping on their ecosystem partners to share their experiences on innovating and expanding.

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes hosted SLINGSHOT fellows in a series of technical and networking sessions that allowed them to meet and connect with local startup founders and industry leaders.

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The sessions were designed to educate participants about the different AWS programmes and resources they can leverage to help them experiment with their ideas, develop existing products, and scale their innovative solutions according to their desired markets. The sessions also enabled participants to tap Enterprise SG for support to help them accelerate and grow their foothold across Singapore and the region.

The panel discussion was held on the topic, “Innovation as a Driver for International Expansion.” Guest panelists included Vinayak Ganapuram (Vice President, Head of Engineering, Crayon Data) who helped provide the startup perspective on the processes and challenges in growth and expansion; Zaran Bhagwagar (Principal, Anthill Ventures) who expounded on their successful ventures and the investor’s perspective in enabling the startup ecosystem; and Enterprise Singapore Regional Directors who shared about programmes and initiatives that Enterprise Singapore is running to spur innovation in the respective geographical locations.

Immersion Day in Singapore

In the lead-up to the Grand Finals of SWITCH 2022, AWS hosted SLINGSHOT’s Top 50 Global Startups on October 21 at the AWS office in Singapore as part of the immersion programme. During this session, the participating startups learned more about how organisations leverage AWS to innovate, and participated in a workshop on AWS Amplify — a complete solution which allows developers to accelerate full-stack web and mobile app development.

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The startups also learned first-hand through a sharing session by Samuel Harris (Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan, AWS), Tuan Nguyen (Public Sector Startup Business Development Manager, AWS), Andre Low (Public Sector Technical Program Manager, AWS), and Richard Goh (Public Sector Business Development and CIC Leader, Singapore, AWS) on how they work with AWS to build and scale innovative solutions.

Innovation through partnerships

The collaboration among AWS, SWITCH, SLINGSHOT, and Enterprise SG aims to redefine the startup industry. It shows the power that collaboration brings to every area of a startup business in today’s digital world. Asia is driving growth globally, and Singapore lies at the heart of the action. While competition is tough, collaboration makes businesses more robust and resilient.

To learn more about AWS Start Up Ramp, visit https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/startups/public-sector-startup-ramp/

About ESG: Enterprise SG is a government agency working with companies to innovate, internationalise, build capabilities, and promote enterprise development. It strives to accelerate Singapore’s growth as a hub for global trading and startups.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by SWITCH

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