Huawei invites deep tech companies to join new accelerator programme

Source: Huawei. Key visual for Huawei Spark.

At the virtual HUAWEI CLOUD Summit 2020 Singapore, global ICT provider Huawei called on deep tech companies in Asia Pacific to participate in the Huawei Spark accelerator programme. Based in Singapore, the hybrid global startup accelerator programme aims to incubate and accelerate startup growth and build an ecosystem for startups in the region.

Organised by HUAWEI CLOUD in partnership with Enterprise Singapore and Startup SG, Huawei Spark will be kicked off in Singapore as a startup competition. Huawei will invest millions of dollars to support deep tech startups, and will focus on firms with the use of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning & analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile edge computing, as well as mobile and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

Eligible startups will receive Huawei mentorship, go-to-market and ecosystem support, and will also gain access to Huawei’s ecosystem of resources through a three-tiered ‘sell-to, sell-with, and sell-through’ model named Spark Fire.

Through this model, Huawei could be the first potential client for these startups, and will engage with them as business partners, so the startups receive access to Huawei's global enterprise client portfolio.  On top of this, startups will be able to reach over 600 million Huawei mobile users through the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) system and Huawei App Gallery, and millions of enterprise users across the globe through Huawei’s cloud marketplace.

Subject to a startup’s maturity, Huawei will offer startups that are accepted into Huawei Spark multi-tier support from the seed stage to the late stage. This includes financial support in terms of cloud credits of up to US$125,000, AI development funds of up to US$100,000, technical support and training as well as go-to-market support.

The startups will also receive free cloud resources from Huawei, including hardware support such as AI modules and AI-based intelligent industry solutions, and open-source software support such as an AI framework, a database and an operating system to develop their own applications, services and hardware appliances.

“Innovation is borderless, and flourishes through collaboration. Huawei will always focus on infrastructure as well as enabling our ecosystem partners with cloud and AI capabilities,” said Leo Jiang, Chief Digital Officer of Huawei Cloud & AI Business Group, Asia Pacific Region.

“We fully believe that startups could grow faster and healthier with proper mentoring and support through the Huawei Spark programme, and create more job opportunities to support the recovery of economies, not just regionally, but also globally.”

Huawei has received more than 200 applications from Singapore startups since applications opened on 10 August. The top 15 startups will be shortlisted to proceed to the next round where Huawei experts will mentor the companies and finetune their business proposals, before the top five will be selected to pitch virtually to a panel of judges in November.

The top two winners will be fast-tracked to compete as two of the top 100 global startups at SLINGSHOT 2020, which is an international startup pitching competition held during the Singapore Fintech Festival x Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SFF x SWITCH 2020) event. The 2020 final for Huawei Spark will be held online as part of SLINGSHOT. These two winners will also be awarded US$125,000 in cloud credits, a S$30,000 Startup SG Grant, and admission to the Accelerator tier.

Source: Huawei. Wei. In his welcome speech, he highlighted that HUAWEI CLOUD has 200+ cloud services, 190+ products and 3 million users. "I am optimistic that with the support of our customers and partners, we can overcome all obstacles," he told viewers in reference to Huawei's challenges in the US and with COVID-19.

It should be no surprise that Huawei Spark will be part of SFF. Raphael Cohen, a tech entrepreneur, provided an overview of Singapore industry trends at the summit, during which he highlighted the importance of startups in fintech. He noted that the startup scene in Singapore is particularly vibrant, with venture capitalism moving from mostly international funding in 2012 to mostly local funding as of 2019. The numbers also speak for themselves, he said, with 1H19 seeing 297 deals worth US$5.3 billion, as opposed to 383 deals worth US$3.1 billion for the whole of 2016.

According to Cohen, high-profile exits in Singapore have included Citigroup, Lazada, Razer and Carousell. "We expect to see more exits which will benefit the whole ecosystem," he said.

Additionally, he observed that the startups with the most funding in Singapore are either regional or global players now. For example, Grab received almost US$7 billion in funding, while Lazada - now part of the Alibaba Group - was awarded US$4.2 billion.

The startup segment to watch in Singapore is fintech, he added. "Singapore has a rule of law, it has a very talented pool of people here who are actually very knowledgeable (about) the finance economy and the technology," he explained.

Another plus point for fintech in Singapore is its potential in Southeast Asia, Cohen said, pointing out that Singapore is the hub for the region. "The next thing coming up is probably digital banking...

Grab, Singtel and Shopee are applying for licences," he shared.

Andy Wei, MD, Singapore HUAWEI CLOUD said, “HUAWEI CLOUD is committed to building a robust ecosystem for shared success. In Singapore, we will continue to support and enable our partners as well as invest in talent cultivation and joint solution innovation through programmes like Huawei Spark and the AI Lab.

"By leveraging our collaborative Connectivity + Computing + Cloud synergy, we are able to provide an intelligent, automated, information-driven platform for partners’ content, applications, and algorithms. Together, we will build a thriving ecosystem and usher in a fully connected, intelligent world moving forward.”

The summit also showcased HUAWEI CLOUD’s partnership with Singapore’s Nestia, a one-stop lifestyle app and platform designed to help people search for local information easily. Working with HUAWEI CLOUD allowed the company to expand their range of services including Cocos Game Integration, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) image processing, and content moderation. The Nestia app now offers a more enhanced experience across its service offerings for its 200,000 daily active users as a result.

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