IY SMU

Grads, with the help of incubator schemes, are growing their start-ups

Publication: The Straits Times, p A1 8 Date: 12 September 2009 Headline: Venturing out to start businesses

WHEN National University of Singapore I (NUS) graduate Stanley Han, 28, regis- tered his business in 2003 he did not even have a product to sell.

Six years later, the electrical computer engineering graduate's firm, Personal e-Motion (PEM), is on the brink of clinch- ing five international deals for its KooBits platform to produce digital content such as e-books.

And it is already generating a six-digit turnover.

Mr Han's company is one of two NUS Enterprise incubatees that managed to se-

I cure funding of $4 million from external investors in ruly. A M h e r two incuba- tees are currently looking to win a total in- fection of $2 million.

They are symptomatic of the growing number of university incubatees here who are outgrowing their ivory tower homes and approaching venture capital- ists to take their fledgling businesses to

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the next stage. At least 45 per cent of the 46 ventures

started at the Nanyang Technopreneur Centre since 2002 have succeeded in win- ning external funding. And some 12 per cent of the Singapore Management Uni- versity's (SMU's) 23 start-ups have har- nessed external investors since 2005.

NUS Enterprise chief executive Lily Chan considers these progress markers to be "starting milestones" towards the en- trepreneurial society envisioned by Minis- ter Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in 2002.

Back then, Singapore was ranked third from the bottom of 27 participating coun- tries, including the United States, Nor- way and Japan, in entrepreneurial activi- ty in the Global Entrepreneurship Moni- tor 2001 Executive Report.

What followed was a slew of govern- ment-led initiatives to "remake Singa- pore" and create an entrepreneur- ship-friendly environment.

Universities here sought to emulate model incubators at top institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy (MIT) and Stanford University. MIT alumni are responsible for such global household names as audio equipment firm Bose, biotechnology pioneer Genen-

Co-founders of Personal e-Motion, Mr Sbnkey Han (standing) and 01 Chon Xiang Dong (right) with (from left) web raductduetkn Eugene Jiang, senior sofhvare arch- PI Yi, and web pmJect manager Evan UI. L company h one of two NUS EMfqrh incubatees that managed to -18 funding of $4 mdlon fmm external 1- in July. ST PHOTO: DESMOND FW

tech and leading semiconductor chip mak- er Intel. Stanford graduates have founded social network his, education company Testtakers and online community for the eco-conscious Care2.com.

The challenge for dons such as Ms Chan since then has been to alter the tra- ditional definition of success - such as se- curing a stable job after graduation - and to whet the entrepreneurial appetites of young Singaporeans.

"We have had to get the young excited about this because they are the next gen- eration of Singaporeans. It takes a mix of environment, technology, creativity, ide- as and support," she says.

NUS Enterprise was founded in 2002 and its enterprise incubator is staffed by eight full-time personnel, who - like their counterparts in SMU and the Nan- yang Technological University - help pro- vide mentorship, funding support and business resources. The organisation also offers low-rent sites for start-up ven-

tures. Alongside is the NUS Overseas Colleg-

es programme which allows students to intern with budding start-ups and take entrepreneurship classes abroad.

Since it began in 2001, more than 700 students have participated in the pro- gramme in six cities including Shanghai, Stockholm and Silicon Valley.

It is Ms Chan's dream that NUS will one day join the ranks of MIT and Stan- ford to "attract some of the top tal- ents ... and have venture capitalists and fi- nancial people walking its halls".

Already, about 120 companies have passed through the NUS incubation sys- tem, with over 40 actively guided by men- tors. Of the 120, 20 have failed, but more than 30 per cent have successfully raised funds, are generating revenue, or are ex- panding overseas.

For PEM's MI Han, it was the combina- tion of consulting mentors and network- ing with businessmen that opened his

eyes to the global potential of his busi- ness.

"The school linked us up with a lot of experts and advisers from different back- grounds, which helped us polish our busi- ness model," says Mr Han, who founded the company with department faculty pro- fessor Shuzhi Sam Ge, 46, and then-re- search fellow Chen Xiang Dong, 38.

The Beijing native and Singapore per- manent resident plans to use the latest in- fusion of fresh funds to scale up manpow- er at his 25-strong firm and grow his busi- ness.

He anticipates his firm making its first profit in three years and, one day, hopes to take PEM public.

NUS Enterprise mentor Kristav Chil- dress is similarly upbeat about the future for entrepreneurship here, which he feels "is in the Singaporean DNA".

"The Singapore education system hasn't trained the students really to distil their ideas for an immediately-clear busi-

ness plan, but Singaporeans are resource- ful with the ability to think laterally," he says.

Ms Chan thinks getting students inter- ested has not been easy because entrepre- neurship is not a career for the faint-hearted, nor an easy path to take.

Sure, she says, there has been a "change in society" with more young graduates choosing to start their own firms.

But NUS Enterprise's chief executive feels the path ahead is likely to be long, with many young minds yet to be won over from more predictable career op- tions.

"The NUS Enterprise incubation eco- system is a starting milestone. But this path is long and we need entrepreneurs who can build scalable business models. Ultimately, Singapore must have 'patience' capital - it will take time, and resources to make this work." cassche~phcornsg

Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction.