It took Tor Ivar Vage just three weeks to decide that Singapore would be the next frontier for his successful startup InfoGym. This is two out of three blogs on how TINC Asia, a program run by JFDI and Innovation Norway, opened up a new future for him.
Sentosa Beach
After a hectic week with many new impressions, it was good to be able to relax at Sentosa Beach. The weather was quite comfortable – 35 degrees inland, and closer to 30 degrees in the water! The view itself is enough reason to expand into the Asian market.
Friday ended with a 60-second sales pitch in front of an informal audience. This week’s presentations were extended to 3-5 minutes and done in front of potential customers, partners and investors. In just two days, we were forced to change the entire presentation – from a general introduction, to a more market-oriented and economic-minded perspective. Fortunately we had JFDI Coach Peter Browne!
Tuesday’s invite-only event was called ‘The Reception.’
An excited crowd waiting to present their companies
After the presentations, we had informal meetings with potential partners. It seemed that all the companies had good responses.
The Reception
For the rest of the week, we had startups meetings, mentor meetings and group reflections. Although we had a tight schedule, we still got those appointments in.
On Friday we visited Redmart, an online grocery store. Redmart has expanded very the last four years and now has over 580 employees. In its latest funding round they brought in $27 million Singaporean Dollars (SGD), which converts to 159 million Norwegian Krones (NOK). They just hired Amazon’s former product manager, so these guys are serious.
We toured Redmart’s warehouse and distribution center, but did not take pictures. However, we got a photo-op with Redmart Chief-Information-Officer Jon Sugihara at the front desk.
The After the visit at Redmart, I took Stig, Konrad and Jo in a taxi to the Singapore ferry dock. Finally after two weeks of long days, we were able to lay in a beach and explore areas around Singapore. We took a side trip to Bintan, Indonesia. What a wonderful ending to a very good week!
Mayang Sari Beach Resort in Bintan, Indonesia
Although it feels like an eternity since I picked up my luggage at Changi Airport two weeks ago, days have passed incredibly fast. I’m looking forward to seeing what the third, and last week, has to offer.
This post appeared first on InfoGym-Blogg. Part 1 of Tor’s story is here. If you’d like to read on what happens on the last week of TINC Asia, here is Part 3.
Tinc Asia is a 3-week technology incubator program in Singapore organized by Innovation Norway and JFDI.Asia. The program aims to give Norwegian companies greater insight and knowledge of the Asian business culture, preferences and expectations, to enable faster growth in the region, with less risk.