Singapore’s innovation & tech festival SLINGSHOT 2021 calls for global startups

Global startups should gear up for the SLINGSHOT 2021 event powered by Startup SG as its deadline approaches on August 13. Asia’s most prominent deep tech pitching competition enters its fifth year and has prizes over US$800,000 on offer for innovative startups.

Organised by Enterprise Singapore (ESG), SLINGSHOT 2021 is looking for startups in the following four emerging challenge sectors:

i) Sustainability

ii) Health & Wellness

iii) Smart Cities

iv) Digital Technologies

SLINGSHOT 2021 will be held virtually again, following the successful organisation of the first entirely virtual SLINGSHOT competition last year. The call for entries officially opened on April 30 and will close on August 13.

Prizes over $80,000 for top startups

SLINGSHOT is ESG’s marquee startup pitching competition that provides startups with an international platform to profile themselves to corporates, industry veterans and investors. This year, more than S$1.1 million ($800,000 US) worth of prizes are up for grabs, including the grand Startup SG grant prize of S$200,000, S$50,000 Startup SG grants for the top ten winners, and S$30,000 Startup SG Grant Prizes for Corporate Challenge winners. The Corporate Challenge will be open to all Top 1000 Global Startups to explore potential partnerships and co-innovation projects with participating corporates. The Corporate Challenge was previously only available to the Top 500 Global Startups.

The finals of SLINGSHOT 2021 will take place from 8 to 10 November 2021, as part of SWITCH (Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology). The Top 100 Global Startups will get to pitch their ideas to a panel of prominent judges comprising corporates and investors.

2020’s event helped startups grow

SLINGSHOT 2020’s virtual format saw over 7,500 applications coming from more than 150 countries, including Singapore, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“Last year’s fully virtual competition allowed us to overcome the travel restrictions amid the pandemic. It broke down geographical boundaries, resulting in the largest number of SLINGSHOT applications to date. We will build on this momentum and uncover more innovative, global startups this year,” said Ms Cindy Ngiam, Director for SWITCH, Enterprise Singapore. “We are focusing on four key areas, in line with the heightened attention on issues such as food resilience, climate change, ageing and cybersecurity. We look forward to seeing the multitude of exciting technologies that can solve pressing industry and societal challenges at SLINGSHOT 2021.”

Last year’s Grand Winner, NextBillion.AI, has doubled its customers who use its custom spatial data post-SLINGSHOT 2020. Its solution is being used in the logistics sector, including food and hyperlocal deliveries. The startup is now exploring more partnerships with several local and global transport and logistics companies. First runner-up GyroGear recently raised US$4.3 million in Phase One of its Seed funding round led by Foxconn. GyroGear plans to use these funds for clinical trials, regulatory approval and further research and development.

SLINGSHOT has also served as an effective platform to facilitate co-innovation between corporates and startups. The Corporate Challenge in 2020 saw a pilot co-innovation project between Cargill and STIMSHOP, which uses ultrasound proximity technology and Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) to record interaction statistics of Cargill’s workers and ensure safe distancing between them. The solution will be tested at Cargill’s sites in Singapore and Indonesia. Rolls-Royce is also piloting a project with Noodle

The call for SLINGSHOT 2021 entries will close on 13 August 2021. Interested startups can apply by submitting an application form at https://slingshot.agorize.com/2021– edition.Local and global partners keen to leverage the SLINGSHOT platform to collaborate with aspiring startups or work to promote innovation can contact ESG at [email protected].

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