[PRESS RELEASE]

Singapore, August 28, 2018 – The Singapore-China Open Innovation Platform was launched today with the aim of connecting nodes of innovation and technology through Singapore between key Chinese cities, starting with Beijing, Shenzhen and Chongqing, and ASEAN. Launched at the Future China Global Forum 2018 by Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Chan Chun Sing, the Platform aims to promote the exchange of technology and to prepare for the next phase of regional innovation breakthrough

AIRmaker had operated since 2016 as the conduit for corporates and startups to collaborate across China, India and ASEAN. It actively engages corporates in the Digital Healthcare and Smart Cities segments to jointly identify and mentor startups in its 3-month Accelerator Program conducted in Singapore and Shenzhen. It is now expanding its mandate to leverage its extensive Asian corporate and startup network to curate and match innovation needs from the industry with cutting-edge technology providers.

AIRmaker will support the Platform by publishing corporate innovation challenges through its network to spur greater innovation and a thriving startup ecosystem across China and ASEAN. Through its engagement with various corporate partners, venture funds and monitoring trends in the regional ecosystem, AIRmaker is building up a growing list of innovation challenges to connect industry innovation needs to technology solutions.

Together with its Singapore founding members Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), Business China and NTUitive, all parties will work towards building this open innovation platform to incubate and support regional startups towards commercialisation of innovation activities. The founding members and partners will pull in their network and resources to provide an end-to-end innovation and technology highway to the “node’ cities in Beijing, Shenzhen and Chongqing as well as ASEAN as a start, with plans to add new countries subsequently.

Mr Aylwin Tan, Chairman of AIRmaker and Chief Customer Solutions Officer of Ascendas-Singbridge (ASB), said, “Many innovation ecosystems are supply-driven, in that startups attempt to solve industry problems based on their own observations and experiences. As a result, many of these startups focus on “business model” and “market-based” innovations, few engage in “technology innovation”. This Platform focuses on engaging large corporates with technology needs, creating a “demand-driven” effect, and systematically help them build open innovation through connecting other technology and start-ups to them.”

AIRmaker also announced a new shareholder, China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), a state-owned enterprise from China. This new strategic relationship will further strengthen AIRmaker’s access to the Chinese market.

Mr Shi Jiantao, Managing Director of CMEC’s Singapore subsidiary, said, “We are excited to be a part of AIRmaker to create inroads for innovation and collaboration between Chinese enterprises and the ecosystems of China and ASEAN. Through our dedicated network and resources, we can offer support to larger technology companies and startups to collaborate with each other.”

AIRmaker has already published 8 innovation challenges from Chinese companies. Within the next 6 months, it will publish more than 50 innovation challenges from China and ASEAN, targeting to curate 1,000 startups from across the region over the next 6 months. For more details, visit airmaker.sg

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About AIRmaker

AIRmaker is the leading partner for corporates looking for open innovation solutions. Initially founded as a seed stage accelerator-cum-venture fund that invested in IoT (Internet of Things) startups, AIRmaker has expanded its mandate to leverage its extensive corporate and startup network to curate and match innovation challenges from the industry with cutting-edge technology providers. It also continues to run bespoke corporate innovation programmes and work with startups. Backed by Ascendas-Singbridge, CMEC and Runyang Group, AIRmaker is poised to spur greater innovation growth and a thriving startup ecosystem. Find out more about AIRmaker and how it is driving corporate innovation at https://airmaker.sg

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