EDB New Ventures, the corporate venture building arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), has officially launched its new Corporate Venture Launchpad programme in a virtual media event today.
The Corporate Venture Launchpad aims to support large and established Singapore-based companies in building new ventures in new areas of growth beyond their existing core businesses. Under this programme, eligible companies will work closely with appointed venture studios, to incubate new businesses in an agile and phased approach.
The venture studios that are involved in the programme are BCG Digital Ventures (BCGDV), FutureLabs Ventures (FLV), Leap by McKinsey, and Rainmaking.
Set to run as a one-year pilot, the programme is investing S$10 million (US$7.4 million) to undertake 20 concept validation sprints. Venture studios that are involved in the programme will work together with the companies to incubate business ideas a phased approach within six months.
In a press statement, EDB New Ventures said that it will support up to 50 per cent of the cost of each concept validation sprint. It may also provide further risk-sharing capital and value creation support to high-potential ventures in the programme.
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“While companies have the innovation capacity, much of their focus is often on optimising core business operations. Building ventures with an agile and autonomous entrepreneurial team will allow them to effectively search and build new growth areas. Concept validation sprints with the support of venture studios allow companies to take a customer and market-first approach to determine what new business to build and is often the first step in their corporate venturing journey,” said Choo Heng Tong, Executive Vice President, New Ventures and Innovation, EDB.
In the media conference, Choo also stated that The Corporate Venture Launchpad will work on key sectors that EDB has always been responsible for, such as healthcare, aviation, and maritime.
According to CB Insights in The 2020 Global CVC Report, despite the global situation, CVC-backed funding hit a new high in 2020 at a global level.
Despite a two per cent year-on-year decline, Asia continued to lead in CVC investment with 1,360 deals. As a comparison, North America scored 1,275 deal with a three per cent year-on-year decline.
Application for The CV Launchpad programme is now open.
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