ASEAN start-up enabler
NUS Enterprise has been named Startup Enabler of the Year in the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2016 in a ceremony held on 30 October in Manila, Philippines.
The enabler award, one of 11 categories in the Startup Awards, recognises organisations that help start-ups and entrepreneurs increase profitability by improving efficiency, developing talent and implementing innovation, as well as supporting the start-up community. This year, more than 1,500 nominations were received from 10 countries across Southeast Asia for the awards. The regional winners of all the categories will compete in the Global Startup Awards to be held in Malaysia this December.
The jury lauded NUS Enterprise’s entrepreneurial education opportunities and active partnerships with industries. It has been providing a full spectrum of support to help individuals and organisations in their entrepreneurial pursuits, as well as outreach programmes for the start-up community. Efforts such as the co-working space Blk71, NUS Start-up Runway incubation and accelerator programme, Social Venture Challenge Asia, Innovfest Unbound Conference, NUS summer programmes and Lean LaunchPad Singapore, made it a holistic enabler for all types of entrepreneurs.
The NUS entity’s achievements included the creation of successful local and overseas start-ups, and the collaborative set-up of Block 71 San Francisco to foster ties between start-up ecosystems in Singapore and the US.
Said NUS Enterprise CEO Dr Lily Chan, “There are more start-ups than ever in the ASEAN region, and we are glad to be part of the ecosystem to support and nurture start-ups at every stage of their journey. We are honoured to have been recognised as best enablers in the region, especially as we are actively looking at expanding our support in these ASEAN countries. We look forward to playing a greater role in ASEAN and beyond, through partnerships with incubators and accelerators, and welcome opportunities to meet prospective ASEAN partners in the coming months.”
Dr Chan said NUS Enterprise is glad to be part of the ecosystem that supports and nurtures start-ups at every stage of their journey
Lilyana Abdul Latiff, Chairman of the Rice Bowl Startup Awards, lauded NUS for championing business and entrepreneurship as key aspects of its educational framework. “We are proud to award NUS Enterprise a Rice Bowl as we feel that it has contributed much in the mentoring and stewardship of successful entrepreneurs and start-ups. The NUS education framework includes business and entrepreneurship as a key part of its curriculum to future-proof the contribution of Singapore and South East Asia to the global economy.”
Organised by the New Entrepreneurs Foundation, Rice Bowl Startup Awards celebrates the spirit of innovation and achievement in the start-up ecosystem. The spirit of the award was based on the idea that “entrepreneurship is the rice bowl of Southeast Asia and the future of Southeast Asia is entrepreneurship”.
