Startup@Singapore attracts less entries
by Bridgette See
Poor market sentiment
for dotcoms has affected new start-ups and even business ideas from the
universities. This year's NUS Technopreneurship competition,
Startup@Singapore, attracted only 93 entries, compared to over 200 last
year. The competition's supporters, NUS and the Economic Development
Board, are not daunted and want to expand it into a regional one - open
to participants from China, India and Taiwan.
A business plan for events scheduling won $30,000.
Researcher Martin Henz
hatched the idea after observing how the organisers of basketball
competitions had problems scheduling their matches.
He and his student then
formed FriarTuck, which used free Internet software to create a
programme to allow groups to schedule efficient rosters even when faced
with many constraints.
Prof Wong Poh Kam,
Director of Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship,
said: "The start-up has a very focused business plan, in other
word, it's not trying to do everything under the sun but it choose to
focus its energy to compete in a particular product, and we feel that
the market they have chosen is a particularly interesting market."
FriarTuck is now seeking seed funding of US$400,000
And while the crash of
dotcoms has dampened sentiment, EDB Chairman Teo Ming Kian, said it is a
stern reminder that virtual businesses still need to be based on solid
technology and real business value, as FriarTuck has shown.
Six companies, which
were identified from the last competition held, are now turning in
profits.
Channel News Asia
Copyright ©2001 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd
Date: 13 May 2001
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