SINGAPORE — JFDI.Asia announces that it plans to operate three runs of our accelerator program back to back through 2014. Commencing on 20 March, 26 June and 2 October, each batch will include 10-15 startup businesses. Ambitious early-stage digital startup businesses from anywhere in the world are invited to apply immediately.
In exchange for a small equity stake, every team accepted into the program will be offered a package including S$25,000 (USD 19,500) cash, mentoring valued at S$150,000 (USD 117,000), technical and other vendor perks worth S$300,000 (USD 234,000). They will also enjoy working space at JFDI’s innovation campus and the opportunity to pitch to over 100 active early-stage investors at a demo day. Historically, following demo day more than 60% of JFDI’s alumni startups have received seed stage funding offers averaging S$600,000 (USD468,000) per team. JFDI actively supports teams to close funding and beyond.
Ray Wu, Accelerator Manager, said: “Through 2012 and 2013, the first three runs of the JFDI program taught us a lot. We have graduated 27 teams and that’s left us feeling very confident about the process we have developed to help them secure market traction and close seed funding. The next two years are all about scaling up and putting in place structures to support startups both before and after the accelerator, giving as many people as possible access to the awesome network that’s developing around us.”
Teams entering the JFDI accelerator program have typically already talked extensively with potential customers. Some have already developed prototypes, while others have over a million users and external investment. What they share in common is deep insight into the domain in which they are operating and a real commitment to build a business in Asia, for Asia. All teams accepted are required to incorporate (or re-incorporate) in Singapore.
Meng Wong, co-founder and social engineer at JFDI.Asia said: “Some entrepreneurs want to develop businesses all on their own and we respect that. But JFDI offers an alternative: the opportunity to co-create value with our community of investors and mentors. From day 1 teams literally work in the same room as people who are willing and able to finance their growth step by step. Those investors and mentors have the experience and contacts to get teams much further and faster than they would on their own and that’s why we call it an accelerator.”
JFDI focuses on startups that are in Asia, solving real market needs for Asia. It was founded in 2010 in Singapore by Hugh Mason and Wong Meng Weng with financial support from successful entrepreneurs based in Singapore. In 2011 JFDI.Asia became the first SouthEast Asia member of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) set up by US acceleration pioneer TechStars, on which JFDI.Asia is closely modelled.