IMDA, Huawei launches start-up incubator

The programme covers start-ups in the preseed and seed space.

Huawei Cloud, in partnership with Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) PIXEL Innovation Hub, has rolled out its Spark Incubator Programme that caters to early-stage Singapore-based in the preseed and seed space.

Spark Incubator’s targets are FinTech, Web3, Metaverse and Software as a Service (SaaS) focused enterprises.

“The programme aims to incubate up to 12 start-ups per cohort for five months and will be run twice over a year. It will provide access to valuable resources and expertise from Huawei and IMDA to further accelerate and grow their business,” Huawei Cloud said.

The nine start-ups chosen for the first year of the programme that will run from November 2022 to March 2023 are Nervotec, NFT Circle, Heros, D-Risk, Corgi.AI, Linh.AI, Better Data, and Zapkad.

Startups which are part of the program can expect third-party financing of over $250,000 or an increase in their valuation by at least 20%, or cross $250,000 at its annual revenue in the post-program.

Participants can also receive HUAWEI CLOUD credits up to US$60,000; up to $75,000 fee-free processing on Stripe; office space at PIXEL; additional mentorship from Huawei, IMDA, Stripe, AngelCentral, MasterCard, Monk’s Hill, GSR Ventures, Lion X Ventures, OCBC, Mycelium Ventures and DocuSign. 

“Start-ups 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 start-ups build world-class products and scale across the region,” said IMDA Chief Executive, Lew Chuen Hong.