SLINGSHOT 2022, Asia's premier deep tech startup competition, offers exclusive new Singapore immersion programme for top 50 global startups

Applications for the sixth edition of SLINGSHOT open today

SINGAPORE, April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SLINGSHOT powered by Startup SG returns for its sixth year^[1]. A new immersion programme for the top 50 global startups to explore growth opportunities in Singapore, as well as an exclusive collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) which offers access to cloud expertise, mentorship and its global community of potential customers, has been introduced for the competition. Organised by Enterprise Singapore (Enterprise SG), the SLINGSHOT grand finals will be held during the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology^[2] (SWITCH), from 25 to 28 October 2022.

Connecting top global startups to collaboration opportunities through Singapore

Inaugural programmes for top 50 finalists

This year, the top 50 global startups, to be announced in September, will each win a sponsored trip to Singapore to participate in an immersion programme one week before the grand finals. This will enable participants to experience the startup and innovation ecosystem in Singapore, and better understand how it can help accelerate their growth via Enterprise SG and scale their business to the region and beyond. In partnership with Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), the national trade association for startups in Singapore, SLINGSHOT will curate a programme comprising matching and networking sessions with investors, accelerators, venture builders, corporates and innovators, providing access to fundraising, local and overseas business and collaboration opportunities. The startups will also go on site visits and lab crawls to research, innovation and corporate facilities.

SLINGSHOT is also collaborating with AWS for the first time, on its AWS Startup Ramp programme to support the top 50 finalists. AWS Startup Ramp is a programme for early-stage startups building solutions in health, digital government, smart cities, agriculture, and space technology, and dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs as they build, launch, and grow. AWS Startup Ramp will connect SLINGSHOT's top startup finalists to AWS's global community of partners and other startup members to deepen collaboration, and provide training and AWS credits to address challenges and accelerate public sector innovation.

Deep tech startups are welcome to participate in this year's Challenge Domains^[3] of i) Manufacturing, Trade & Connectivity, ii) Health & Biomedical, iii) Environment, Energy & Green Technologies, iv) Transformative Digital Technologies, and v) Consumer Media, Goods & Services (refer to Annex for more details). The call for entries officially opens today and will close on 24 July 2022. Interested parties can find out more details and submit their applications at https://go.gov.sg/slingshot2022pr.

More than US$800,000 in total grant prizes are up for grabs this year:

• Grand winner grant prize of over US$130,000
• First runner-up grant prize of over US$100,000
• Second runner-up grant prize of over US$66,000
• Over US$33,000 grant prize each for top ten domain winners

In partnership with JTC, Singapore's lead agency championing sustainable industrial development, the top three SLINGSHOT winners will win up to 18 months' rent-free space at the JTC LaunchPad @ one-north or LaunchPad @ Jurong Innovation District. These LaunchPads are homes to vibrant communities of incubators, accelerators and venture capitalists.

Ms Cindy Ngiam, Director for SWITCH, Enterprise SG said, "Since 2017, SLINGSHOT has seen more than 15,000 applications from markets including leading startup hubs such as Canada, China, Germany, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Our top 40 SLINGSHOT winners have also gone on to raise almost US$400 million in investments, post-SLINGSHOT. Through SLINGSHOT, startups have been connected to over 400 judges and mentors globally from the innovation space. Our partnerships with established industry leaders like AWS will also provide prime opportunities for startups to gain more support and opportunities to scale into the region from Singapore."

On the collaboration with Enterprise Singapore, Mr Samuel Harris, Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS, said, "We are excited to be collaborating with SLINGSHOT to support Singapore's vibrant startup community. Startups play an important role in helping governments and organisations to deliver quality citizen services and better customer experiences, innovating faster at scale. AWS is delighted to support Enterprise SG's mission to drive local startup innovation. We are committed to bringing startups and the wider industry together to experiment with new ideas built on the cloud that help solve some of the world's biggest challenges."

Co-innovation opportunities for top 250 startups

SLINGSHOT 2021's top 100 startups were connected with more than 15 corporates to explore co-innovation opportunities. These corporates included AstraZeneca, Givauden, Hyundai, P&G, Philips, Rolls-Royce, Tata and Unilever.

This year, the top 250 startups will also stand the chance to be connected to top corporates for co-innovation opportunities through the SLINGSHOT Corporate Mixer. Participating global corporates will share their problem statements during the Corporate Mixer sessions, and explore new business and collaboration opportunities with these finalists.

About Enterprise Singapore

Enterprise Singapore (Enterprise SG) is the government agency championing enterprise development. We work with committed companies to build capabilities, innovate and internationalise.

We also support the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and startups, and build trust in Singapore's products and services through quality and standards. 

Visit www.enterprisesg.gov.sg for more information.