What you need to know about 500 Startups newest startup ignition program

This new program is in partnership with the Singapore government.

500 Startups has launched a partnership with Enterprise Singapore, the government’s arm for enterprise development, to help emerging entrepreneurs in Singapore create innovative ventures through assistance with founding teams, validating potential opportunities, and building out their product roadmaps and business plans.

The program, called 500 Ignition Singapore, is a virtual program that will run for 12 weeks. It aims to help participants build a stronger foundation in entrepreneurship, and develop new products and services geared towards solving the most pressing needs in today’s market.

This will be done by connecting participants with industry experts for mentorship, helping them seek the right co-founders, and providing them with shared resources that can help facilitate their startups’ long-term growth.

The program will run in three phases. Phase one is Customer Discovery and Problem Definition where participants are divided into teams and learn best practices on how to gather insights that can help them compelling value propositions for their products and services.

In Phase Two, 500 Startups will take the teams through different experimentation tools. By the end of this phase, teams should have a validation of the minimum viable product (MVP) through a minimum viable test (MVT).

And in Phase Three, teams will begin shifting from solution discovery and building to other core components that make a successful startup. Teams will assess sales and marketing strategies, monetisation and pricing, and outline the beginnings of a go-to-market approach substantiated by customer and experiment data.

“The past year has witnessed significant disruption across myriad sectors and hence fresh ideas are needed to meet ever-evolving demands. We are thrilled to partner with Enterprise Singapore in this endeavor to provide aspiring founders with the foundation and mentorship they need to launch a business,” Ee Ling Lim, regional director of business development in Asia Pacific at 500 Startups said

The program for the first cohort has already started. Meanwhile, applications for the second cohort will end on 21 May with the program starting on 7 June.

500 Startups is currently running another Ignition program in Cambodia and intends to run similar programs across ecosystems with emerging startup talent, desiring to engage with youth in entrepreneurship and aiming to stimulate new job creation.