Huwaei has collaborated with the entrepreneurial unit of National University of Singapore – NUS Enterpise to launch an Internet-of-Things (IoT) startup accelerator in Singapore. Christened i5Lab, the accelerator intends to give startups mentorship, access to investors, access to industry-grade test beds, and global co-marketing opportunities to fast track their development into future partners of the company.
i5Lab wishes to support the development of the nation’s next unicorn company by nurturing promising start-ups with Huawei’s real network environment, open platform and global Go-to-Market channel capability. It will follow the model of established Huawei collaborations with leading software and industry partners to develop solutions that will build a competitive industry ecosystem.
i5Lab will focus on smart verticals including Smart Living, Transportation, Smart Logistic, and focus on developing technologies in the area of Big Data, VR/AR and natural language processing. In the ten-week long acceleration program, five startups would be selected to participate.
Startups incubated in the i5Lab will leverage Huawei’s in-depth expertise in developing IoT products — such as smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches — and go-to-market strategies. They will have access to the network with investors and mentors from NUS Enterprise’s network and trial-run their solutions in Huawei’s industry-grade test beds. Also, Chinese giant’s partnerships with some 45 leading telecommunication partners will help startups scale their business.
Professor Wong Poh Kam, Director, NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, which is part of NUS Enterprise, expressing his confidence on the deal said this is the perfect time to capitalize on the growing global IoT market space. He added,
Ultimately we are looking to build our future business partners from the ground up.
The applications are open until January 31, 2017, to submit their business ideas to i5Lab. After the selection of startups in Febuary, they will join an accelerator programme until July 2017. This will be followed by a product showcase at InnovFest 2017 in May.
Lim Chee Siong, Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei Southern Pacific, said,
With one of the most connected societies, open data sets and high-skilled ready talent, Singapore is an excellent test bed to nurture IoT ideas that will bring us closer to a smarter future.
