Over the past week, the Plus Eight Accelerator cohort travelled to Singapore for a week-long immersion trip. The six month program, now in its last leg after recently announcing Phase Two, aims to bring together a global network of mentors, investors and partners to support and scale high growth startups in WA. Over the past couple of years, due to the global pandemic, an overseas trip has been off the cards, however with the borders now open there are endless opportunities for the cohort, and future cohorts, to enjoy a trip of a lifetime.
On October 9th, six startup founders made their voyage to Singapore, where over the week they began meeting and creating strong professional connections with international VC’s and investors. They were able to learn from successful startups and scaleups in the region, and explore international funding options. Those who joined the cohort on the trip include program investment partners Hawaiian, Capricorn Society, Woodside Energy, Betterlabs, Spacecubed and Visagio, as well as special guests Melvin Sico, Business Development Manager for WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science & Innovation, and Wen Li Lim, Chief Impact Officer at People Diagnostix.
During the week-long trip, the founders participated in a range of engaging activities including various startup and scaleup panel sessions with special guests Annie Luu, Global VP of Strategic projects at Fingerprint for Success, Jared Baragar, Co-Founder and Partner at Abound Capital and Chris Collins, Investment Director at Potentia Capital.
The cohort also had the opportunity to attend a venture capital networking sundowner with founders and investors from Enterprise Singapore and AusTrade thanks to the support of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation office in Singapore, and pitched their startup to a panel of Angel Investors in a traditional Singaporean Shophouse. Lastly, they visited and toured the Microsoft Office, as well as Grab Headquarters where they heard from Reuben Lai, Senior Managing Director of Grab Financial Group and Sam Rhee from Endowus.
The activities throughout the week all positively impacted the cohort and they were able to make meaningful professional connections that will aid in their business growth and development. Coming up next for the 2022 cohort is Demo Night, our exclusive Pitch Event that is running as part of West Tech Fest on December 6th. Demo Night is where the cohort from our accelerator program get to pitch their startups for further seed-funding from investment partners and is a great opportunity for brand exposure and opportunities.
Tickets for Demo Night are exclusive and invite-only. To get a seat in the audience at this event, please express your interest via this form and you will receive an email if tickets become available for the General Public.
To express your interest in joining our 2023 Accelerator Cohort, find out more about the program here, and fill out this form to be the first to know when applications open.