Issuu

A quarterly publication of NUS Enterprise >> Jan - Mar 2018 // ISSUE 017

Scaling Up Innovation in Cybersecurity

Capital Attraction: What Start-ups Funded by Venture Capitalists & Angel Investors Do differently

Hackathon Heaven!

Forging Partnerships

enterprise@nus.edu.sg |

enterprise.nus.edu.sg |

NUSEnterprise

MCI(P)118/04/2018

FEATURES SPARKS interest with the latest in the start-up and entrepreneur scene within our community

Cementing a Stronger Partnership with SIA

NOC Expands into New Frontiers

Scaling Up Innovation in Cybersecurity

NUS Open Day

MPA Partners NUS Enterprise to Accelerate Innovation in the Maritime Space

Innovfest Unbound, Asia’s Most Exciting Innovation Festival SPARKS ideas with different thoughts and perspectives

The Building Blocks of Purpose-Driven Businesses

Capital Attraction: What Start-ups Funded by Venture Capitalists & Angel Investors Do Differently

Editor’s note In an era of great competition, collaboration may be a critical means for organisations, companies and businesses to thrive and make significant contributions in their new endeavours. As such, NUS Enterprise has forged new partnerships with corporations, including: the set-up of a cybersecurity start-up hub with SingTel Innov8; efforts to promote and improve digital aviation and the travel experience with Singapore Airlines; and the boosting of the maritime start-up ecosystem with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. These joint partnerships aim to create a vibrant entrepreneurial community by leveraging one another’s strengths and capabilities. In addition, this issue of SPARKS will include an article on what distinguishes venture-funded start-ups; the achievements of our NOC Silicon Valley students at the DeveloperWeek Hackathon; and inspiring stories of our start-ups and their journeys. We hope you enjoy Enterprise SPARKS as it continues to bring the thrills and spills of our exciting entrepreneurial ecosystem.

SPARKS action with ﬁreside chats and tips from experienced entrepreneurs

Safer Drivers = Higher Cash Back SPARKS partnerships with industry and market leaders

KosmodeHealth’s Commercialisation Journey SPARKS passion with exciting entrepreneurial internships

Hackathon Heaven! SPARKS interest in past events and activities

Flashback

ENTERPRISE SPARKS NUS Enterprise 21 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Level 5 Singapore 119613 enterprise@nus.edu.sg www.enterprise.nus.edu.sg Company Registration No: 200604346E

SPARKS food-for-thought

Cybersecurity in an Interconnected World

Editorial Team: Bhawani Balakrishnan (Lead), Ng Su Fen Contributors: Ho Yuen Ping, Krystal Jemima Joseph, Tan Jia Xin We are happy for you to share or reproduce the content of this publication but do let us know before you do as it is proprietary to NUS Enterprise. Thank you!

CEMENTING A STRONGER PARTNERSHIP WITH SIA Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced the launch of its Digital Innovation Blueprint through the unveiling of key bilateral partnerships. Combining forces with the airline, NUS Enterprise signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SIA on 29 January, with the aim to jointly develop an innovative ecosystem around the themes of Digital Aviation and Travel Experience, and develop technologies and start-ups that will be able to solve SIA’s business challenges through a joint accelerator programme.

A visit by NUS students to BLOCK71 Jakarta for the USP - NUS Enterprise Innovation Immersion Programme.

In line with NUS’ aim to give students greater choice and freedom to pursue their passions, NUS Senior Deputy President and Provost Professor Ho Teck Hua recently announced two new NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programmes: NOC Toronto and NOC Southeast Asia. This news comes alongside the announcement of new education initiatives launched by NUS, including bonus admission points for first-choice courses and new concurrent degrees, such as the one combining NUS’ Bachelor of Science

Another motivation for this accelerator programme is to create disruptive technologies that will essentially help speed up the digitalisation of Singapore’s aviation sector. In an effort to build an open innovation culture through staff involvement, SIA is also putting in place a new 3,200 square-feet digital innovation lab to allow its staff to work with innovative companies, including start-ups and established accelerators and incubators, to encourage new ideas and collaboration.

Launching SIA’s Digital Innovation Blueprint were (from left): Prof Tan Eng Chye, NUS President; Mr Lim Kok Kiang, EDB Assistant Managing Director; Mr Goh Choon Phong, SIA CEO; Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry; Mr Lim Chuan Poh, A*STAR Chairman; and Mr Tay Tiang Guan, CAAS Deputy Director-General

NOC EXPANDS INTO NEW FRONTIERS and the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine offered by the University of Melbourne. NOC’s programmes are designed to give students interested in starting their entrepreneurial journey first-hand experience through an overseas internship. The NOC Southeast Asia programme will begin with Indonesia, home to the world’s fourth largest population as well as a diverse and vibrant start-up scene. Students will embark on a three-month internship programme, developing innovative solutions to real-life problems faced by growing Indonesian

and Singaporean firms in areas such as agribusiness, social entrepreneurship and e-commerce. Participants of NOC Toronto will spend a year immersed in the local start-up scene while taking classes at partner institution, University of Toronto. The city is North America’s fourth largest and home to more than 4,000 technology start-ups and over 30 incubators and accelerators. The addition of the two new destinations will offer more students a chance to embark on this enriching journey of innovation and entrepreneurship.

age

s im wre

SCALING UP INNOVATION IN CYBERSECURITY On March 26, NUS Enterprise jointly launched the Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem at BLOCK71, or ICE71, together with Singtel Innov8, a corporate venture capital fund. ICE71 is the region’s first cybersecurity start-up hub and is also supported by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Cybersecurity Agency of Singapore (CSA). ICE71 serves as an integrated cybersecurity start-up hub, supporting early and growth stage entrepreneurs and start-ups.

ICE71 cybersecurity start-up hub is located at BLOCK71 Singapore

The panelists had an engaging discussion about the opportunities that ICE71 presents to the ecosystem, Singapore, and the region. When asked where they envision the cybersecurity start-up scene to be 10 years from now, the panelists expressed their hopes for greater collaboration between companies and greater support and endorsement for the start-ups.

Guests were also treated to a tour of the space which included board rooms, co-working desks and event spaces. The launch saw a great turn-out, with over 160 guests from start-ups, regulators and corporations attending the event. The CEO of NUS Enterprise, Dr Lily Chan, as well as the CEO of Singtel Innov8, Mr Edgar Hardless, gave the opening address of the event, introducing ICE71 and celebrating the people behind the launch. Mr Edgar Hardless also explained the choice of BLOCK71 for the new cybersecurity start-up space. “There is a great start-up ecosystem existing here,” said Mr Edgar Hardless, “so we felt it was an ideal location for this new venture.” This was followed by a panel comprising; Grace Cassy, Co-founder, Cylon; Matthias Chin, Founder CEO, Banff Cyber; Ken Baylor, Regional VP APAC, Attivo; Ken Low, Director of Cybersecurity, IMDA; Selwyn Sean Scharnhorst, Director Ecosystem Development, CSA; Siomon Cheong, Regional Director (Cybersecurity) ASEAN Global Security Sales Organisation, CISCO Systems and moderated by Daniel Seal, Founder and CEO of unbound.

Launch of ICE71: (from left to right) Grace Cassy, Co-founder, Cylon Lab; Angeline Poh, Assistant Chief Executive of Industry Development, IMDA; Dr Lily Chan, CEO of NUS Enterprise; Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8; Selwyn Sean Scharnhorst, Director of Ecosystem Development, CSA

Going forward, ICE71 will support entrepreneurs, academics and full-fledged start-ups through its three programmes:

ICE71 Inspire is a one-week programme that is aimed at individuals with a cybersecurity idea or concept that they wish to explore further and to validate and test

ICE71 Accelerate is a three-month accelerator programme aimed at early-stage cybersecurity startups

ICE71 Scale is aimed at later-stage local and international businesses looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region

Apart from just co-working spaces, ICE71 provides start-ups with access to networking events, funding, and mentorship, all amidst a great ecosystem. For more information on ICE71 please visit : www.ice71.sg

NUS OPEN DAY

The Carousell team sharing how NOC allowed them to find their passion, and each other

With a constant stream of visitors flowing in, the buzz was exhilarating at NUS Open Day on 10 March. Prospective students, parents and visitors all came to visit us at our NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) booth. With a sure-win spin-wheel and the smell of fresh popcorn wafting through the air, it was no surprise our booth was an attraction. Throughout the day, there were fireside chats with Carousell, Honestbee and Circles.life, all of which were founded by our NOC alumni. Visitors gathered to hear about their personal experiences on NOC, as well as why and how they went about building their successful start-ups.

Some of our NOC alumni companies: 99.co, Circles.life and AfterYou!

The sure-win spin wheel, attracting parents, students, and even grandparents, to try their luck!

start-ups with interested students and parents alike. For more pictures and videos of what went down that day, do check out NOC on Instagram and Facebook: @NUSOverseasColleges.

NOC alumni start-ups Pitchspot, 99.co, Bantu and AfterYou were also present to mingle with the crowd, sharing their experiences on embarking on their own

MPA partners NUS ENTERPRISE to ACCELERATE INNOVATION IN THE MARITIME SPACE On 12 January, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NUS Enterprise to jointly execute the Maritime Technology Acceleration Programme (MTAP). This is part of the plan to boost the maritime start-up ecosystem in Singapore, encouraging innovation and exploring new growth areas through working with tech start-ups. The MPA and NUS Enterprise collaboration will include a residency partnership at BLOCK71 at the JTC Launchpad @One-North. This will see joint efforts

to organise activities to foster the maritime start-up ecosystem here. Some propositions include running the Smart Port Challenge (SPC) and building awareness among the start-up community on opportunities in the maritime and port industry. The SPC is an annual competition for global start-ups to tackle challenges in the port, shipping and maritime logistics clusters. MPA and NUS Enterprise will also shortlist start-ups from the SPC to develop their prototypes through a 10-week curriculum that consists of training and mentorship. At the end of the initiative, the start-ups will be able to pitch their solutions to a judging

panel, and successful start-ups will be provided grants to carry out the projects with industry partners. MPA Chief Executive Andrew Tan explained why the start-up ecosystem in the maritime industry is still at an embryonic stage. “The level of awareness (of) opportunities in the maritime sector (for start-ups) is not very high. There are very attractive propositions from other sectors like banking, Fintech, to attract start-ups… we will start this initiative in a small way, and will nest it in an existing ecosystem. It cannot be done in a vacuum, and we need an existing ecosystem such as BLOCK71.”

ORGANISED BY

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

SUPPORTING

Join us at Asia’s most exciting Innovation Festival 5 & 6 June 2018

100+

NUS Start-ups & Technologies

350

Exhibitors

12,000+ 300 Attendees

Speakers

: innovfestunbound@nus.edu.sg : innovfestunbound.com #innovfestunbound

To stay updated on Innovfest unbound as well as our NUS entreneurship initiatives and technology licensing opportunities, visit: enterprise.nus.edu.sg

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN BUSINESSES How do social purpose-driven businesses differ from profitdriven businesses? Do they require a different business framework and strategy? Over 40 earlystage and aspiring social entrepreneurs learnt the ropes of building a strong purpose-driven business at a workshop held on 17 March, titled “A Purpose-Driven Approach to Business Model Design”. The workshop was conducted by Professor Wong Poh Kam, Senior Director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre. The Business Model Canvas (BMC) by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur has been widely used as a tool for analysing, designing and visualising the business models of new and existing for-profit businesses. It highlights the links between the various components of a business model, along with its financial impacts. This assists entrepreneurs in assessing the financial viability of any proposed business model design.

Participants engaged in hands-on group exercises to cement their learnings.

a reduction in health problems, or increase in independence and quality of life. The social impact of your business is the portion of the total outcome that arose from your business activity, above and beyond what would have happened anyway.

Good social enterprises should have a feasible business model that delivers the desired social impacts in a financially sustainable and operationally scalable way. However, the analytic framework is incomplete when one is trying to develop business models for social enterprises. The NUS Entrepreneurship Centre has thus developed an approach that adapts the traditional BMC to help social enterprises better design their business models to achieve social impact as the primary goal, with financial viability either secondary or as means to achieve the primary purpose. Here are some tips:

Measuring Social Impacts It is important to clearly distinguish between Outputs and Outcomes. Outputs are results that can be measured relatively objectively, such as the number of participants trained, or income earned. In comparison, Outcomes are the ultimate changes that you are trying to make in the world, but which may be difficult or costly to measure. Examples may include

Developing clear and detailed metrics to measure the social outcomes generated is key to making sure that your business can deliver its intended social impact. When designing your business model, build in key activities into your business process that can capture the data you need. Because social impacts are harder to determine as compared to financial impacts in profit-driven businesses, being able to provide potential funders and stakeholders with tangible social impact metrics will make it easier for you to attract financing.

Exploring Innovative Financing Models Purpose-driven businesses tend to face a trade-off between greater profitability

versus higher impact. Discovering and designing alternative financing models to make up for financial shortfalls are an integral part of the business model design process. Using the BMC, you can identify the size and nature of your financing gap. You can explore alternative financing models like cross-subsidisation, crowdfunding, impact investments, consumer or producer co-operatives, or even a combination of multiple models, to provide a path to financial sustainability. Developing innovations in various aspects of your business model can also help to reduce your cost and close your financing gap. With many stakeholders potentially involved in the financing process, these new stakeholders may have purposes of their own, which differ from yours. This may necessitate adjusting your original purpose to develop a new shared purpose that satisfies both your social impact and financing model, and also achieves alignment with the interests of all stakeholders. Keen to learn more? Access our free online course on “A Purpose-Driven Approach to Business Model Design” at http://bit.ly/ NUSBMDcourse

CAPITAL ATTRACTION: WHAT START-UPS FUNDED BY

VENTURE CAPITALISTS

DIFFERENTLY

Every start-up needs capital. Received funding from Business Angels and Venture Capitalists? Congratulations, you are a step closer to joining the likes of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page, and your start-up could become the next Apple or Google, technology giants that were venturebacked in their formative years. There is a cold, hard truth on the flipside. The reality is that venture funding does not guarantee success. In fact, many more venture-backed start-ups fail than succeed.

Just because you get funded does not mean you are successful” Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosia Ventures

Yet, the hunt for equity funding continues. Stiff competition has given start-ups successful in securing Venture and Angel capital (VAC) a haloed reputation. So what exactly are VAC-funded start-ups doing differently that set them apart? According to research by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC), it is likely a combination of different qualities. Highlights from the NEC study, which surveyed over 500 tech start-ups in Singapore, were recently featured in the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Directory 2018.

ANGEL INVESTORS

01 Growth over Profitability

02 Be Innovative, Take Risks Start-ups are risky business. Starting a venture with a disruptive technology is no recipe for the faint-hearted. Nevertheless, if successful, the payoff is huge. Just ask Zimplistic founders, Rishi Israni and Pranoti Nagarkar. Dubbed as crazy by many initially, Zimplistic succeeded in catching the eye of angel investors and venture capital firms NSI Ventures and Robert Bosch Venture Capital with their disruptive hardware idea. Eight years of R&D and 35 patents later, Rotimatic, the world’s first automatic roti-maker, was launched with a waiting list amounting to over USD72 million. The research data shows that Zimplistic is not alone. High R&D spending intensity, technological capability and intellectual property ownership are found to be synonymous with VAC-funded start-ups. 55% have introduced a product or service new to the world (compared to a mere 35% of their counterparts). Evidence that VAC-funded start-ups are more innovative? Checked.

Growth or Profit? There is no clear answer but one thing is for sure: start-ups with VAC funding have a stronger focus on growth. Whether measured in employment or sales, VAC-funded start-ups in Singapore are growing at a much faster rate despite a larger share being currently unprofitable. Sales growth is almost double while employment growth is more than triple that of non-VAC funded start-ups. NUS Enterprise incubated start-ups Carousell and ShopBack, which have raised more than $150 million between them, are testaments to this strategy. While Carousell has achieved commendable success to date, the start-up has just begun monetising what it has built, having chosen to focus on healthy user growth first. ShopBack founder Joel Leong echoes similar sentiments, emphasising the importance of growing and building the brand over profit generation, “If you have sales but no brand, then you are earning in the short-term. Sales come and Elliot Schneier, start-ups.co COO go, but the brand is more eternal.”

Venture Capitalists and Business Angels will never be the golden ticket. Investors can give capital, advice, connections. But there’s one thing they can’t do: build your company for you.”

03 Aim Big: Go Global Another tip? Have an internationalised outlook for your business from the start. “If you have a product business and you aren’t focused on international, you are missing out on two-thirds of your potential customers,” Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, mentioned in a conversation with Harvard Business Review. A salient characteristic of VAC-founded start-ups in Singapore is internationalisation. Approximately four in five derive income from overseas markets while 64% have active overseas-based operations. Non-VAC funded start-ups paled in comparison with only 46% with overseas-based operations. As pinpointed by Candice Ong, Chief Commercial Officer of ShopBack, “From day one, ShopBack’s ambitions have stretched beyond Singapore’s borders. I don’t think a company can successfully go global unless you have the intention to do it from the start. You have to have that global mind-set.”

SURVEYED TECH START-UPS

04 Education and Experience helps Firm capabilities aside, founder characteristics also matter. As the cliché goes, your team can make-or-break your start-up. While founders of VAC-funded start-ups in Singapore are more likely to be university graduates and have postgraduate qualifications, the most striking difference is the higher incidence of serial entrepreneurs. 49% of VAC-funded start-up founders, compared to 39% of other start-up founders, are serial entrepreneurs. Experienced founders potentially have accumulated stronger networks, social capital and skills.

30% 7%

Venture Capitalist (VC) Funding only

Business Angel (BA) Funding only

Both VC and BA Funding

Deep Tech

40%

60% 72%

VAC-Funded Start-ups

ALL OTHER START-UPS

Average Employment

Sales Revenue & Growth

1.9M

0.9M

37%

27%

% of Sales from Exports

37%

22%

% Profitable

33%

53%

Hoping to exit through IPO, Acquisition/Merger

55%

30%

R&D as % of Sales

58%

17%

Core Technology Developed in-house

92%

83%

IP Ownership

71%

40%

Target Markets

4.2 jobs created per year

72% annual growth

operating in emergent markets

Non-Deep Tech

28%

Acknowledgement: Findings reported are drawn from the research project “Growth Dynamics of High-Tech start-ups in Singapore: A Longitudinal Study” funded by a Science of Research Innovation and Enterprise (SRIE) grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF). More findings may be found at: https://htsu.techsg.io

VACFUNDED START-UPS

VAC funded, of which

14%

Does this inspire greater confidence and improve the perceived viability of their business ventures? Perhaps so. Regardless of the reasons, the bottom line is clear: investors prefer educated founders and being a serial entrepreneur is an advantage. Next time you are looking to strengthen your co-founding team, it may be useful to keep this in mind.

1.3 jobs created per year

37% annual growth

operating in emergent markets

L to R - Prateek Jogani, Thanasak Hoontrakul and Chean Yujun, Vouch’s co-founders

Are you a safe driver? If like most people, you answered positively (and only 15% of drivers in Singapore make damage claims annually), then it is unfair that your higher car insurance premiums are being used to cover the risks of those drivers who are more accident-prone. This was the underlying belief of first-time entrepreneur Chean Yujun, who decided to set up Vouch Insurtech in 2016, together with Prateek Jogani and Thanasak Hoontrakul. Vouch recently launched Singapore’s first No-Claim Rebate (NCR) car insurance, which offers up to 15% cash back on annual premiums for drivers, which is in addition to the existing No-Claim Discounts. The start-up’s innovative model succeeded in attracting three established insurance

companies as partners – NTUC Income, Sompo Insurance Singapore and Tokio Marine Insurance Singapore. Vouch’s analytical technology groups drivers of similar driving profiles in groups via their online platform (www. vouchinsurance.sg). Drivers can also choose to form their own group (such as friends, family, colleagues), with a minimum of 20 drivers in one group. At the start of each driver’s policy, the insurance company sets aside 15% of the drivers’ premium as the NCR. This rebate is pooled with members of the group. If during the policy period any member makes a damage claim, part of the claim is deducted from the rebate pool. The remainder of the pool is split amongst the group (except for the driver who made the claim), at the end of each driver’s respective annual policy. If everyone in the group stays accident free, everyone receives 15% cash back of their premium. In addition to being fairer, Vouch is also seamless (drivers can apply for their

SAFER DRIVERS

insurance on Vouch’s website in less than 5 minutes) and transparent (drivers can monitor changes in their NCR anytime via the website). “We saw an opportunity to work with insurance companies, to give drivers more choice to influence the premiums they pay and also reward safe drivers. Insurance companies also want to encourage a safe-driving culture in Singapore, and we were delighted when three established insurance companies came on board. Drivers can now receive a cheque from their insurer for driving safely, instead of only when making a claim,” said Chean Yujun, CEO and Co-founder, who is also an NUS alumnus (Bachelor of Engineering 2009). Incubated by NUS Enterprise, Vouch has to date raised S$1 million in seed funding from investors like GREE Ventures, Nogle Capital Management and angel investors. The company was selected by global reinsurer Swiss Re as one of five start-ups to be part of their InsurTech Accelerator programme. Moving forward, the company plans to expand regionally, initially targeting Thailand and Malaysia.

HIGHER

CA$H BACK

KOSMODEHEALTH’S COMMERCIALISATION JOURNEY BLOCK71 Suzhou start-up KosmodeHealth was co-founded by Dr Huang Dejian and Ms Florence Leong to be a people-centric, health-focused organisation that enables health from nature. Anchored by their core extraction methodology that has been market validated, KosmodeHealth has a B2B business model that serves nutraceutical companies, supporting them in the extraction of novel, better quality phytochemicals and the valorisation

01 What is KosmodeHealth and what makes it stand out?

of plant food process waste (okara, coffee). Augmenting its extraction expertise are proprietary technologies in the formulation of plant-based bioink and 3D bioprinting – a triple technology platform that supports the needs of biomedical companies for customised bioscaffolds. We spoke with Florence on her entrepreneurial journey with KosmodeHealth thus far.

KosmodeHealth was co-founded by Professor Huang and myself. I got to know him while serving as an Executive Advisor at NUS Enterprise in 2015; he was among my first advisees. Though initially uncomfortable with a business model ‘facelift’, Prof Huang was open-minded and willing to explore new business ideas and approaches. It is this mutual respect for what each of us does best that gave me the confidence to transit from an advisor/advisee relationship to a ‘skin in the game’ business partnership. KosmodeHealth’s technological platform is unique too – there are not many start-ups that have technologies to serve both nutraceutical and extremely high tech 3D bioprinting industries. However, at the end of the day it is still the people who make the company stand out and the technology live and breathe.

I was disturbed by the fact that we are surrounded by an abundance of botanicals and yet plant-based supplements and functional food are often unaffordable. Why must it be so? I was later ‘educated’ by Prof Huang that there are two main reasons - firstly, the bioactive compounds in botanicals are present in minute quantities; secondly, current industrial extraction methods involve energy intensive, complex, repeated distillation processes that are both expensive and time consuming. The cost of natural plant extracts is therefore hit by a double whammy of high extraction costs and low minute bioactive content. KosmodeHealth’s simple, low cost extraction method that facilitates cyclical continuous production addresses the second issue of high extraction cost. With its lower production cost and shorter production cycle, it not only has the potential to make natural health extracts more affordable but is able to expand access to the 1.8B Muslim population through the use of anon-ethanol food grade solvent.

What were the challenges along the way?

There is a huge opportunity for KosmodeHealth to serve as the contract R&D arm of F&B companies, but unfortunately many Asian-based F&B companies are still relatively conservative and unwilling to pay for R&D services. The fact that we are a start-up does not help either. We are so confident of our ability to solve problems that we are willing to demonstrate the viability of our methodology before charging for the next phase of contract service. As a high tech start-up, the talent pool is very limited - especially because the education system does not typically encourage risk takers. Having said this, I am encouraged that we have been receiving several unsolicited offers to join KosmodeHealth from credible applicants.

NUS Enterprise has helped in numerous ways, from space in BLOCK71 Suzhou and Singapore, and opportunities to showcase the company in various platforms such as Innovfest Unbound to the generous sharing of ideas, networks, and industry linkages. Importantly, the extensive ecosystem built means that there are numerous opportunities for best practice sharing, learnings and even co-development of ideas. The well oiled linkage and machinery within the ecosystem removes the multiple roadblocks, so everybody works with everybody towards a bigger vision.

05 Any advice to people looking to start up their own business?

KosmodeHealth focuses on health from nature - could you share with us where the inspiration for this came from?

How has NUS Enterprise helped in KosmodeHealth’s journey?

It will be a difficult but exciting and extremely satisfying path. Believe in what you’re doing; dare to take risks; and plan for success, but be prepared for failure. Having the right people is critical; only recruit people who share the company’s vision, have the passion & resilience to overcome challenges, and the desire to grow with the company. To achieve this, the founders must first be able to inspire with a compelling vision – only then will it be a magnetic pool to the right talents. Don’t focus on technology; it is the base case requirement. Focus on people, your employee, your customers – know and meet their needs and they will meet yours.

HACKATHON HEAVEN! Five teams of NOC Silicon Valley students participated in Hackathons in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston – winning multiple prizes from different sponsors. Curious to hear about their amazing inventions and experiences? Read on!

DeveloperWeek Hackathon from 3 to 7 February

NECxel Won the NEC Sponsor Challenge and received USD1500 worth of Amazon vouchers. Students: Vishnu Saran | Woon Kiat Justin Tan | Qing Yang

The Idea Has anyone ever completed a presentation, with subpar confidence that you did a good job? Did you try and seek out people’s opinions and suggestions, only to come through with a few modifications and no solid assistance? Cue NECxel. NECxel is a web application that is used to enhance presentation performance by leveraging on NEC APIs, namely voice recognition and the crowd analyser. The voice recognition detects filler word such as “uh”, “um” and “err” in a presentation, and the crowd analyser is used to detect the audience’s smile index.

We are addressing Toastmasters International with our innovation. As of yet, Toastmasters does not have an efficient way of tracking speaker performance and audience engagement. With NECxel, they will be able to monitor, assess and enhance speaker performance, while also synching data from various Toastmasters to build a global virtual teaching platform.

The Challenges There was a seamless flow of ideas, but the difficulty we faced was identifying the most innovative based on feasibility as well as economic viability. Another obstacle we had to overcome was to learn their sponsor’s API. We had to learn how to deal with the intricacies of API accuracy and integrating the codes into a front-end web dashboard. After the ideation and recovering from multiple bugs, we had less than 8 hours to code and prepare for the pitch.

The Takeaways Strength in Diversity – learning how to leverage on each other’s skillsets helped us to function effectively and efficiently. Value in planning – investing time into selecting a sustainable idea enabled us to be clear and focused moving into the execution phase.

The #1 Advice Be ready to acclimatise to anything you might face. No matter how prepared, the only certainty is that things will go wrong, and we have to embrace it. Learning how to think fast and changing strategies is crucial in this ambiguous environment.

Flowcode Won 2nd prize for the MyScript Sponsor Challenge and received USD3000 cash and another USD3000 in licenses to deploy their app. Student: Yogamurti Sutanto Flowcode is a mobile application leveraging on MyScript’s handwriting recognition API (Application Programming Interface) to enable users to draw flowcharts on their phones using their fingers, and have it converted to

a programming language of their choice. This application helps new programmers learn the basics of flow-charting and observe how flowcharts can be converted into actual, executable code. In hackathons, because of the time pressure, it is important to trust your teammates and believe that each person has their own individual strengths and part to play in making the product. Also, communication is key – it is vital to voice any challenges so that there is a community who will be able to support you. “NOC has given me the opportunity to be engaged in the start-up culture and that has helped develop mindset on tackling challenges.” said Yogamurti.

He also added, “If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, be willing to take many risks. The entrepreneurial path is seen as audacious by most, but those who still have an appetite for risks despite inevitable setbacks will succeed.”

Esfer

Voyager Won the DocuSign Sponsor Challenge and received USD2000 Visa Gift Card.

D CAR

Student: Patel Drashtiben Mukeshbhai

What is Voyager all about? Won the eSignLive Sponsor Challenge and received USD2000 Amazon Gift Card. Student: Lee Pei Xuan

Describe your innovation and the value it adds! We created a P2P payments platform with legally binding transactions. When you go out with a group of friends you don’t see too often, paying each other can be a hassle through bank transfer, as a fair bit of information is typically required, e.g. bank account numbers. Esfer saves you the trouble of cumbersome bank transfer procedures, with the added assurance that every payment you make and receive has legal weight and bearing.

Imagine wanting to explore somewhere new, like Paris, but not having the time to plan where to go, what to see and where to eat. Even with applications like Google Maps and TripAdvisor – it’s simply too time-consuming to plan the route, purchase tickets and consolidate all your tickets through email. Voyager is an instant trip generator that handles all your travelling administration. You simply choose from: Adventurous, Nature, Attractions or Foodie – and let us customise a trip for you. Thereafter, Voyager will display your trip for you and if for any reason you dislike an option, swipe left to delete that item and a new result will be delivered to you instantaneously. Once everything is confirmed, we will help purchase attraction tickets, book your rides, etc. With just a signature, your payment is processed and e-tickets generated. We believe that with technology, travelling should be hassle-free.

What are some things you’ve learnt from the experiences gained from joining hackathons? Constantly working with new teams is a big plus for personal growth. Exposure to different personalities puts both your adaptability and teamwork to the test, but it’s truly the best feeling when you walk away winning with a team you just met 24 hours ago. Being at hackathons and witnessing the passion and experience older engineers have is inspiring; I hope I never lose faith in what I am doing. Working here has definitely broadened my perspective on entrepreneurship, the people in Silicon Valley and the drive they have in them – that’s something I haven’t quite found a parallel to back in Singapore.

What was the biggest challenge faced – from the ideation to the development of the product? The ideation phase was one of our major challenges. We had to meet up beforehand to think of the possible ideas we could work on. On the day of the hackathon itself, we had to talk to the different sponsors, pitch our ideas and gather opinions and recommendations. We used that information to modify our ideas so that it would be creative, feasible and fun to make.

What are some things you would like to say to aspiring entrepreneurs (& hackathoners)? Network with people. It helps to expand industry knowledge and learn from experienced entrepreneurs. Don’t be afraid to go to hackathons because of a lack of technical skills. Use it as a time to take action and hone your technical skills. Most people at hackathons come to learn and better themselves, and are very encouraging.

Drashti (far left) and her team clutching their first prize at the Developer Week 2018!

Face any storm with calm. If you are faced with a technical bug or any situation that is beyond your control, think with clarity. Have a backup of previous work – in case of any disruption. Follow your passion. If you believe that an idea is worth pursuing, then work hard to validate it with market analysis and pitch your ideas at hackathons. You could even find your mentor there.

SheHacks Boston Hackathon from 26 to 28 January

Don’t Be Trashy Won the USD2500 under the category of Environmental Sustainability.

NOCSV students Peixuan (far left) and Drashti (second from right) bringing home the prize at the world’s largest all-female, non-binary hackathon with over 1000 participants! #womenwhocode

Students: Patel Drashtiben Mukeshbhai Lee Pei Xuan

The Idea 70% of all trash can be recycled, but only 30% is. We figured many people would recycle – if recycling was as easy as throwing trash into a bin. So we created an embedded systems hack, combining software and hardware. We built an Arduino-powered bin and a mobile app. When a user throws an item into our bin, a camera situated within the bin captures an image of it and uploads it to the cloud for image processing. The decision from the cloud is sent to the Arduino via Bluetooth, which them activates the motor that pulls the correct lever in the bin to drop your item into the correct compartment. The app allows users to accumulate points from throwing away their item into our bin, which can be used to redeem rewards sponsored by environmentally conscious partners. Fun environmental facts and tips are also included in the app.

The Challenges Choosing an idea was a huge challenge. We saw many different social problems that we wanted to target. We wanted to build something that would truly make a difference and be feasible, while simultaneously being within our expertise and capabilities. Another challenge we had to overcome was that our hardware resources were highly limited. Our team members had to build cardboard gears and use strings as wires, but we built a functional bin by the end of the hackathon!

We signed up together and found the rest of our team on Facebook, so we were all pretty much strangers when we first met at the hackathon. This made us realise hackathons are a great way to find likeminded people that are equally excited to work on the same idea, and who work complementarily with us. The entrepreneurship classes we took as part of NOC’s curriculum taught us that the defining factor of an idea is fundamentally tied to how much it addresses a real need in the society. This resonates strongly with the spirit of hacking, where products and solutions should solve a palpable pain point in the current world.

The Takeaways

The #1 Advice

Spending time to find the right idea can be a worthwhile investment in a hackathon.

Own your vision! Not everybody will believe in your ideas, but it’s enough that you and your team do.

Working within your team’s expertise and having a good balance of skill sets is important if you’re out to win!

NUS Enterprise Events & Activities

JAN - MAR 2018 Stay updated on our upcoming events at: enterprise.nus.edu.sg/events

JAN

FEB 01

Industry Roundtable Series: Future Health - Current Advancements in Cancer Therapeutics

Industry Roundtable Series: Environmental Solutions - Insights into Graphene’s Industry Applications: Dispelling the Hype and Bringing the Facts

A look at the crystal ball: 5 trends to watch in 2018

Office Hours with Google Cloud

Wicked Wednesdays at N-House Speaker Series: Payment Wars

Industry Roundtable Series: Sense- IoT - Getting smart with Sensor Analytics

Workshop- The Future of Work: Design for an Aging Workforce

NOC @ NUS Open Day 2018

Industry Roundtable Series: Environmental Solutions Sustainability through Waste Management

Workshop: A Purpose Driven Approach to Business Model Design

Industry Roundtable Series: Future Health - Effective Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases

Panel Discussion: Commercialising Cybersecurity Technologies

NOC Spotlight on Toronto

Wicked Wednesdays at N-House! Speaker Series: Crowdfunding!

Lean Launchpad Workshop: Moving Technology out of the Lab to Market

Modern Aging Lunchtime Talk: Mental Health Computing via Harvesting Social Media Data

ASK NOC – Session 2

NOC – Spotlight on Asia

Industry Roundtable Series: Connected Devices

Kopi Chat: Shipping the smart way NOC Tea Chat with Tom Kosnik

MAR

UNICON 2018

Kopi Chat: Riding the Waves of Change with Technology

Start-up Career Workshop by NUS Entrepreneurship Society

Think about this: While companies are getting more and more connected, criminals are having more and more loopholes to enter. “It’s not a matter of if – but when,” Mr. Vincent Loy, Managing Director at Accenture declared during a talk on cybersecurity: Trends, challenges and priorities, held on 1 March.

CYBERSECURITY IN AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD

HERE’S SOME OVERWHELMING STATISTICS:

12 1M

people online become a victim of cybercrime every second

victims around the world every day

The global cybersecurity market is set to increase to USD125 billion by 2020 – up from USD84 billion in 2015. Investments in cybersecurity start-ups have doubled from USD3.8 billion in 2016 to USD7.6 billion in 2017. Size of the Global Cybersecurity Markets

USD84

USD125 billion

billion

Year 2015

Year 2020

Here are some tips to prepare your business against cyber crimes:

01 Be Brave! Ask questions. Find out about the different walls of protection available and what the best kind is for your company size and dynamics. You can also ask questions on tech forums and share information with others on areas that can be prone to cyber-attacks.

02 Be Brilliant in Basics. Seems like a strange tip, but too many people fall prey to cybercrimes, because of the lack of knowledge of basic principles. For example, don’t have the same password across all accounts. Strengthen your passwords with numbers, symbols and letters. Never use a word related to you.

03 Run tests, tests and more tests! Most of the time, information is released through the folly of fellow colleagues who fall prey to enticing emails or links shared. Run tests with dummy links to prepare and educate them on what to click and what not to click onto. Cyber criminals are getting very creative in the way they are presenting their malware, so we need to be extra careful!