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Today you’d see more and more upcoming #Start-ups and entrepreneurs entering the market offering a wide range of products and services.
Carousell, Honestbee, ServisHero, and even Theo10 are just some of the proud startups that have sprouted up locally providing services and products.
#Startups are so popular these days that even Mediacorp’s Channel 8 produced a drama serial (Dream Coder) about startups.
If you think that it’s difficult to start a #Startup, you might be wrong. It’s not all that difficult to start one. All you need is a whole lot of passion and motivation and the right help either from tech accelerators and government grants.
GOVERNMENT GRANTS???
Yup, our government loves innovation and entrepreneurs so much that there is a whole slew of grants and initiatives out there to help develop startups and innovation.
Even at this year’s Budget Committee of Supply the Ministry of Trade and Industry announced even more help to create a “sustaining and vibrant ecosystem for our budding entrepreneurs and partners to thrive”.
If you’re a tertiary student and you’ve a strong interest in starting a Startup with a product or service, you’d be happy to know that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced during his Budget speech, a Innovators Academy to connect students and build capabilities overseas. So you not only get a head-start to innovation, but you get a overseas perspective and experience as well!
But here’s the thing these governmental support for innovation and entrepreneurial spirit did not start recently. In fact, back in the early 1980s, the government, through various authorities and agencies had already began offering funding support to software companies and other IT companies for innovation and manpower development.
A good example of this would be Creative Technology. In 1989, the homegrown technology company got its big break when it launched a sound card for personal computers known as Sound Blaster at Comdex – an annual leading international computer trade show. The company had occupied a booth in the pavilion set up by the Singapore Trade Development Board (TDB) – which is now known as IE Singapore.
The Trade Development Board was set up then to help local enterprises with products to gain entry into international markets. In those days, you would be speaking to TDB which is one of a host of different agencies if you were a local entrepreneur.
The Sound Blaster was such a success at Comdex, that the late Michael Jackson took a great interest in the product because of its high-decibel music and sound effects.
Creative Technology was undeniably one of the many companies in Singapore that got support from the many government schemes and initiatives that aid innovation and entrepreneurship, and made it big on the international scene.
So, are you ready to take the plunge and be a Startup entrepreneur or innovator?
