South Africa-based accelerator Grindstone has announced a pilot program with Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) which will give Singapore tech start-ups the opportunity to access the South African market.
According to a statement seen by TechCabal, the programme will run under the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA), a network of Singapore and overseas partners in major innovation hubs in 15 cities worldwide. Enterprise Singapore is the Singapore government’s agency with a mandate for enterprise development.
Operating in a hybrid format, the pilot program consists of workshops, dedicated one-to-one mentorship with industry experts, networking opportunities and an overseas immersion trip to connect Singapore startups and SMEs to potential overseas partners and opportunities.
The 8-week-long program will take selected startups through structured interventions including business assessment, access to top coaches, course material and workshops, networking and access to funding introductions.
Catherine Young, director of Grindstone, stated that Grindstone believes in growing access to markets and access to funding opportunities for start-ups to help them scale.
“As growth engineers, we strive to continuously increase our networks for market access and funding for the start-ups we work with, and our Grindstone geographical expansion has enabled us to bring Africa to the world and the world to Africa. This programme will help us strengthen networks between Singapore and South African start-ups and we look forward to working with EnterpriseSG on this initiative,” she added.
For EnterpriseSG, Jonathan Lim, director for Global Innovation Network, mentioned that Africa is attractive for Singapore tech companies not only because of its huge consumer market but also the fact that the continent’s rapid digital adoption, industrialisation and urbanisation present new needs and corresponding opportunities.
“There is potential for Singapore companies to collaborate with in-market partners in the co-development of new solutions. We also welcome African corporates and start-ups to leverage Singapore as a hub to innovate and scale up in Asia,” he said.
On Friday, the 23rd of September, TechCabal in partnership with Moniepoint (by TeamApt) will host the most important players in tech and business on and off the continent to discuss the future of commerce in Africa. Register now to attend.
