Invisu Visits Singapore as Part of Innovate UK’s Advanced Manufacturing GIP
25 March 2024
On 16th March our Managing Director, Warran Bolton, and Technical Director, Steven Skolosdra, travelled to Singapore for a week-long market visit with 7 other UK companies (Holdson, Sterling Bio Machines, Planet Computers, Valuechain Technology Ltd, Autentica Carparts, Mimicrete, and GMP Manufacturing Ltd) after being selected by Innovate UK to be part of their Global Incubator Programme for Advanced Manufacturing Singapore.
Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme, delivered in partnership with Singapore Deep Tech Alliance (SDTA), is an acceleration programme for innovative businesses to work with world-leading incubators abroad.
Above Photo Credit: SDTA
The first day of our market visit began at the SDTA offices where the cohort met in person for the first time following our previous online sessions via Zoom. It was great getting to know everyone and hear about value propositions, challenges, and aspirations for the coming months. We attended workshops which included an investment landscape with Edward Tay, followed by a visit to Enterprise Singapore (ESG) where we were given an overview of innovation and the advanced manufacturing landscape, alongside networking, and an opportunity for each of the cohort to pitch to ESG colleagues. A very informative and productive first day.
Above Photo Credit: SDTA
On Tuesday, our day commenced with a visit to A*Star (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), courtesy of Allen Tan where we were given a tour of the facilities. We discussed the latest research and received introductions to the Institute of Infocomm Research (I2R) and Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech).
In the afternoon we visited Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) hosted by Eileen Tan which included a tour of the Next Generation Hyper Personalisation Line (NGHPL) and the Innovation Factory under SIMTech. We then made our way back to SDTA to attend 'The Perfect Pitch' workshop with Rebecca Sharpe.
Our day concluded with a welcome group dinner where we sampled Peranakan cuisine (blending Chinese ingredients with various distinct spices and cooking techniques used by the Malay/Indonesian community) at the Peranakan Inn & Lounge – delicious. A thoroughly enjoyable evening!
Wednesday started at SDTA with an excellent morning workshop delivered by Steven Holm looking at the investment landscape in Singapore and Southeast Asia. We also met Amy Ross from the British High Commission (UK in Singapore) Inward Investment Team, who help UK companies access Singaporean capital.
The afternoon was spent at SG Innovate for ‘Seal the Deal’ where we watched a live role play of term sheet negotiation between Michael Blakey, Managing Partner, (Cocoon Capital) and Raghav Narayan, CEO, (Aprisium) facilitated by Luuk Eliens (Founder of SDTA). These interactive simulations provided first-hand experience in negotiation strategies, empowering the participants with practical tools for crafting compelling investor pitches and securing favourable term sheets. An incredibly engaging session with plenty of takeaways and valuable insights gained.
Above Photo Credit: Jens Böhm
Above Photo Credit: SDTA
Thursday was free time for individual visits and meetings. We were pleased to meet with Steve O’Connor (EIR) where he advised on the Singapore market and in particular, vertical farming. Steve made some suggestions on segmenting our market and the SaaS Model. We also had the opportunity to pitch to Omron. Later that day we attended the Innovate UK Dinner.
Our trip concluded on the Friday where we pitched to ST Engineering before travelling over for an introduction to Murata. We learned how they work with start-ups and scale-ups, along with rapid fire pitching and networking. A very enjoyable session.
It has been incredible to introduce Invisu to the Singapore market, meet new businesses and build relationships in the sector. Following a successful visit, we are excited about attending the forthcoming online sessions and our second visit to Singapore which is scheduled for October 2024.
We would like to thank Kevin Hallas, Jens Böhm and Chaco van der Sijp from Innovate UK and Luuk Eliens, Nico Tan and Andreea Radulescu from SDTA for all their support in making it a great week. Special thanks to Rebecca Sharpe for your assistance.
