Singapore’s JFDI joins TechStars Network and “Startup America”

Singapore investment firm JFDI said today it’s joining the TechStars Network, which is part of the US government’s newly launched “Startup America” initiative.

The TechStars Network is a group of affiliated investment firms who try to accelerate startups’ growth by investing a small amount of seed-stage money and a large amount of intensive coaching. It’s the model behind TechStars, the leading accelerator program that’s spearheading the initiative. TechStars invests US$18,000 per company in 40 companies in the US annually and puts them through three months of training to get the idea off the ground.

JFDI (which stands for Joyful Frog Digital Incubator, although we’ve heard other creative meanings behind the acronym) has been operating in pilot mode since it started last January. JFDI’s actual accelerator program is likely to start in the second quarter, after funding is closed, Hugh Mason, a JFDI director, said.

So far, JFDI has mainly been working with Singapore’s Media Development Authority to fly in eight mentors from abroad. The mentors, which include people like events payment company Amiando’s co-founder Marc Bernegger, met 68 local companies for one-on-one sessions and conducted 41 public talks.

We asked Mason what kind of support will be provided by TechStars to the network’s members. He said that network members would be part of a “private data pooling arrangement” that would share privileged information about what helps companies grow. He also said members would join a global conference.

Mason added that JFDI wanted to attract talent to Asia since immigration to the US is usually a hurdle. Cultural barriers also prevent companies in North America and some parts of Europe from reaching the markets and talent pools in Asia.

“Half the world’s population lives within the same flight time of Singapore that it would take to cross the USA. Our island is a safe, reasonably familiar place in a world that looks fascinating but impenetrable from the West,” he said.

Mason said JFDI’s experience bringing technology entrepreneurs from abroad to Singapore over the last year has illustrated the country’s benefits.

“Our pilot year was important because I demonstrated in a very concrete way that great investors and mentors were willing to come and support Singapore (technology) entrepreneurs,” he said.

“It’s the old Singapore story really – this is a great place to touch down and do business. So on many levels, we think that our relationship with the TechStars network will quickly become two-way. The analogy I’d give for the network is that it’s like the Star Alliance (a group of affiliated airlines). We don’t compete but rather have everything to gain from working together.”

Perhaps the clearest marker of Singapore’s, and JFDI’s ambitions, is Mason’s remark that his firm plans to be as well-known as TechStars “in a couple of years”.

“(TechStars) is established as an international brand in a way that we hope to be in a couple of years but we recognize that will take time to build. So being part of the network is important because it will make talent from around the world aware that we are here.”

JFDI was founded by Hugh Mason and Meng Wong. Wong also serves as the director at JFDI.

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