14 November 2014, Singapore – JFDI.Asia and Innovation Norway are bringing six Norwegian teams to Singapore through a month-long acceleration program called TINC Asia. The program is designed to give participants greater insight and familiarity with Asian business, culture, preferences and expectations, to enable faster growth into the region, with lesser risk. TINC Asia startups will be based in the JFDI Innovation Campus in upcoming weeks from 17 November and will go through mentoring, pitching and customer discovery sessions in Singapore.
TINC Asia startups come from all tech sectors and will feature hardware, digital and maritime solutions. Six teams were selected for their strong and coachable management teams, scalable business ideas and high potential for growth and show substantial market potential.
They are:
- OceanHub – Ocean industries media platform
- Tiny Mesh – Mesh network module and cloud services empowering the Internet of Things (IoT)
- Cargospotter – Big Data for the dry bulk goods shipping industry
- YardIntel – Business information for the maritime industry
- CHECKD – Task management for construction
- TapBookAuthor – Interactive mobile media authoring tool
Tiny Mesh, a startup building a mesh network module and cloud services empowering the Internet of Things (IoT) is looking to break into Asia with it’s hardware kit. The kits make it possible to rapidly experiment with and implement internet of things (IoT) projects, whether there’s a connection the big internet or not, because they self-assemble into a network all on their own.
Tiny Mesh currently has this robust technology in 350,000 smart electricity meters in India and is looking to bring it into more Asian markets.
“Asia is huge and made up of many fragmented markets. We want to be prepared when the time comes for our products to scale into the different markets and I believe TINC Asia is the perfect program for us to learn from JFDI’s community of mentors and successful entrepreneurs in Asia,” said Tiny Mesh co-founder Thorstein Tønnesson.
Thinking Global
The Norwegian government is actively encouraging Norwegian startups to think global and reach out to new markets.
“Innovation Norway opens doors for Norwegian companies. We are always looking for new opportunities and markets to enter for the businesses we work with. Singapore functions like a hub for Asian business, so it is the ideal place to be in order to help Norwegians wanting access to the Asian market,” said Torunn Aass Taralrud, Regional Director for South East Asia, Innovation Norway.
The TINC Asia program includes:
- Entrepreneurship training for global expansion delivered by the most renowned professionals in Singapore
- Mentoring from top-notch and highly experienced advisors, tailored to your company’s needs
- Seat / ‘hot-desk’ at the bustling co-working space at JFDI accelerator located in Singapore’s tech cluster Blk 71 / Launchpad
- Pitch training and opportunity to present at networking event attended by investors, multinational companies and more
- 30 days use of JFDI’s facilities in Singapore including ’hot desks’ and meeting rooms at any time for 6 months after the program, including 5 mentor hours
Innovation Norway
Innovation Norway is the Norwegian Government’s most important instrument for innovation and development of Norwegian enterprises and industry. It supports companies in developing their competitive advantage and to enhance innovation. Norwegian enterprises have access to a broad business support system as well as financial means. Innovation Norway provides competence, advisory services, promotional services and network services. The marketing of Norway as a tourist destination is also considered one of the organization’s important tasks. By combining local industry knowledge and international networks with the business ideas and the motivation of entrepreneurs, the foundation for new successful businesses is created.