SINGAPORE — Creative agency Dentsu Singapore has announced that it is an alliance partner of sustainability-focused deep-tech venture builder, Singapore Deep-Tech Alliance (SDTA), and a co-organizer of Sustainable Innovation Asia 2023, SDTA’s flagship event.
The solutions-oriented flagship event of SDTA will convene public and private sector stakeholders from the innovation ecosystem to accelerate the progress for sustainable development with the aim of “Unlocking Deep-Tech to Fast-Track the Global Goals”. The event is anticipated to welcome hundreds of participants, bringing together the brightest minds to gather and unlock deep-tech solutions that advance global Sustainable Development Goals. The event will also feature SDTA’s launch of its revamped venture-building program for its third cohort.
Prakash Kamdar, CEO, Clients & Solutions, SEA, and CEO, Singapore and Indonesia, dentsu, commented, “At dentsu, we understand that innovation in human consumption and lifestyle is key to creating a sustainable future and want to be part of the solution in promoting sustainable innovation throughout the value chain. SDTA’s support of start-ups with a focus on technologies that solve social and environmental problems aligns with our vision to be at the forefront of people-centered transformations that shape society. We are therefore excited to be part of Sustainable Innovation Asia this year, to influence and promote real-life solutions to our planet’s problems from Singapore.”
Clara Chen, Co-Founding Managing Partner, Commercial Office at SDTA, said, “We are pleased that Sustainable Innovation Asia is back again in 2023. It is a synergistic platform for our Alliance Partners, Founders, and thought-leaders within the deep-tech venture ecosystem to spark new ideas and gain valuable insights. There will be many opportunities for founders and partners to come together and collaborate as we announce the new developments in our Venture Building Programme. We are excited to build on the success of the inaugural Sustainable Innovation Asia as the culmination of our pilot cohort and continue our efforts to foster a thriving ecosystem for deep-tech ventures.”
Lenovo Singapore and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are the Platinum Sponsors of the event with Allnex, Avnet, and CATAPULT as Silver Sponsors.
Revamped Program for SDTA24 Cohort
SDTA’s deep-tech venture building program will return for the third year to help entrepreneurs bring advanced technologies to market in three phases, each structured with deliverables based on Founder team formation, technology commercialization, customer validation, product development, and business building.
The nine-month program for the SDTA24 Cohort will be segmented by new venture tracks created for its program, mentorship from SDTA’s Senior Advisory Board, and access to the market through key Alliance Partners signed up with SDTA across various collaboration models. Participating ventures will have greater and deeper access to a more vibrant ecosystem and connect with key Research Institutions through technology matching, as well as receive additional guidance for their proof-of-concept project scoping and business-building activities from industry experts.
Launch of new ClimateTech Venture Tracks and Senior Advisory Board
SDTA is committed to addressing societal challenges by building deep-tech ventures in Singapore. SDTA is doing so by launching five new Venture Tracks: Manufacturing, Semiconductor, Healthcare, and Energy verticals, with the ClimateTech horizontal spanning across the four verticals. This includes enhancing partnerships with entrepreneurs within these tracks and achieving a greater level of understanding of industry business needs, best practices, and competitive advantages.
Alongside the launch of the new ClimateTech Venture Tracks and its specific industries, SDTA has also announced its newly appointed Senior Advisory Board comprising experienced leaders within their respective fields, bringing decades of experience and a wealth of expertise to provide strategic insights, network, and thought-leadership perspectives. The Senior Advisory Board will provide expert guidance and insight on matters from their respective verticals and strategic partnerships to future cohorts. Please refer to Annex B for the list of advisors, part of the Senior Advisory Board.
“The establishment of our advisory board marks a significant milestone for SDTA, highlighting the strong confidence from the private sector in the value of our work. With these accomplished advisors on board, we are poised to strengthen SDTA ventures, expand corporate partnerships, and collectively de-risk co-innovation efforts for a transformative impact from Singapore to the world,” said Luuk Eliens, Co-Founding Managing Partner, Programme Office at SDTA.
Debut of collaboration models with Alliance Partners
Four key collaboration models with Alliance Partners will be launched by SDTA to enable tangible and results-driven collaborations to further enhance public-private partnership models. Ventures will continue to be able to leverage technology, business, and industry expertise from Alliance Partners to accelerate their innovation and growth strategies through these models.
These four collaboration models include:
- New Venture Creation: A novel idea or opportunity area is identified by SDTA and its Alliance Partner, from which to scope a use case that founders will build into a new venture.
- Joint Go-to-Market: Leverage Alliance Partner’s existing technology stack to build novel solutions and jointly go to market with a new venture.
- Be the Exclusive Launch Customer: Co-develop prototypes or productize with a new venture and be the first in the industry to adopt novel solutions to improve operational efficiency and gain a competitive edge.
- IP Licensing: Licensing and commercialization of Alliance Partner’s protected technologies to a new venture in exchange for royalties, licensing fees, or equity in the venture.
Across all four models, SDTA ventures will have the opportunity to receive investment from Alliance Partners and be guided through the end-to-end process of taking advanced technology from lab to market.
In 2023, new Alliance Partners include Allnex, dentsu Singapore, Micron Technology, Norgren, Zuellig Pharma, and Panasonic R&D Center Singapore. Current partnerships have already been established by SDTA with TÜV SÜD, OMRON Asia Pacific, Lenovo Singapore, Avnet, and Sunningdale Technologies.
Corporations interested in collaborating across the new SDTA24 venture tracks can reach out to join our industry network as an Alliance Partner and adopt one of the collaboration models.
Entrepreneurs passionate about Climate Tech in the industries of Manufacturing, Semiconductor, Healthcare, and Energy can also find out more details and submit their applications by August 01. Reguster here to be a part of the SDTA24 Cohort.
