Huawei Spark Incubator programme targets startups

• Aims to incubate 12 startups per cohort, will run twice a year
• Targets early stage startups in fintech, Web3, Metaverse and SaaS

Huawei Cloud has launched the inaugural Spark Incubator programme as part of its partnership with Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) PIXEL Innovation Hub.

In a statement, the ICT provider said this programme targets early-stage Singapore-based startups in the pre-seed and seed space in fintech, Web3, Metaverse and software-as-a-service (SaaS) focused sectors to support their growth to Series A and expansion in Singapore and Asean region.

It said the programme is set to incubate up to 12 startups per cohort for five months and will run twice a year. 

The firm added that startups will have access to resources and expertise from Huawei and IMDA.

According to Huawei, startups are expected to receive third party financing over US$178,935 (RM839,000) or increase their valuation by at least 20% or cross US$178,935 (RM839,000) at their annual revenue in the post-programme.

After four months of selection from over 80 applications, the director of the Spark Programme and Huawei Cloud APAC chief digital officer, Leo Jiang, announced the names of the nine startups as the first cohort from November 2022 to March 2023. They include:

Web 3:

Nervotec: Healthcare analytics as a service to monitor medical-grade vital signs;

NFT Circle: Digitalisation of physical asset, real estate, and arts as a service; and

Heros: Enable athletes to monetise their careers through fan engagements and rewards.

Fintech:

D-Risk: Assists companies to manage credit risk efficiently, accurately, and affordably with AI; and

Corgi.AI: A fraud prevention AI plug-in helping businesses better understand and prevent fraud

Enterprise SaaS:

Linh.AI: Solution for higher quality and cost-effective data annotation;

Better Data: AI synthetic data provider;

Zapkad: A smart digital business card with comprehensive features worldwide; and

Xrator: Forge cyber resilience for all organisations.

Foo Fang Yong, chief executive officer of Huawei International, said, “Working alongside these most promising startups provides co-creation and innovative opportunities where together we can bring greater value to our customers, and upscale Singapore’s economic competitiveness in the long-term,

“We pledge to continue driving innovation with our start-up’s alumni from Singapore to Asia Pacific and even further, providing a global platform for the most ground-breaking and transformational companies to thrive,” said Foo.

IMDA chief executive, Lew Chuen Hong said startups 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,” he added.

Throughout this incubator programme, participants will receive up to US$60,000 (RM282,000) in Huawei Cloud credits, up to US$75,000 (RM352,000) of fee-free processing on Stripe, office space at Pixel, and additional mentorship from Huawei, IMDA, MasterCard and OCBC, to name a few. 

​​[RM1 = US$0.222]

They will also receive help to build customer-centric products with advice from Pixel’s panel of consultants in design thinking and UI/UX with digital storytelling, along with access to lead corporate demand through IMDA’s Open Innovation Platform.

Huawei said startups can leverage its services and receive technical support from Huawei Solution Architects. 

It said they will also get one-on-on mentorship with Huawei and mentors like Stripe to nail product-market-fit, develop a sound business plan and sharpen go-to-market strategy.

The programme will provide opportunities to help startups build business connections through Huawei’s corporate and venture capital partners such as GSR Ventures, Lion X Digital Innovation Fund (co-managed by Lion X Ventures and OCBC Bank) and Mycelium.

They can potentially expand their business to the Southeast Asia and China markets, as they strive towards post-programme investments of up to US$2.1 million.

Applications to join the May 2023 cohort of Huawei Spark Incubator programme are open now.

Eligible applicants should be Singapore-located, must ensure that teams already have at least a minimum viable product, possess a strong product-market fit and moat, paid proof-of-concepts, and have previous entrepreneurial or corporate experience.

Interested startups may apply here.