A First in Southeast Asia – SGInnovate Presents Inaugural Deep Tech Summit

Launch of Singapore’s first certified Blockchain Developer Programme and investments into deep tech startups announced 

18 September 2018, Singapore: SGInnovate is today presenting Deep Tech Summit, Southeast Asia’s first dedicated deep tech event that brings together thought leaders from major innovation hubs around the world to explore how emerging technology developments will transform human society. As part of its commitment to growing deep tech in Singapore, SGInnovate is also announcing the launch of Singapore’s first certified Blockchain Developer Programme and the completion of investments into Tricog Health, ThinCI Inc and Quantiply.

Happening as part of the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH), the Deep Tech Summit is a full-day conference that allows SGInnovate and stakeholders from across the deep tech ecosystem to explore technology’s impact on humanity. Pertinent topics that would be headlining the conference include “AI across industries”; “blockchain beyond fintech”; “the future of work and talent development”; as well as “venture building and deep tech investments”. 

“Organising and hosting the inaugural Deep Tech Summit is a very exciting time for us. This is a great opportunity to see global tech leaders and scientists come together in Singapore, to exchange ideas on topics such as venture building, deep tech talent, and the role of future technologies,” said Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate. “Ultimately, we want Deep Tech Summit to be an annual event with a foundational theme of how technology will continue to play a vital role in shaping societies.” 

At the Deep Tech Summit, SGInnovate announced a partnership with Kingsland University – School of Blockchain and Ngee Ann Polytechnic to launch Singapore’s first certified blockchain developer programme. Designed to accommodate working professionals, the hybrid immersion blockchain programme will employ a blend of face-to-face intensive technical training and online supported instruction. 

The tripartite collaboration enables the fusion of technical expertise from the Kingsland School of Blockchain and educational practice by Ngee Ann Polytechnic with the deep tech ecosystem of SGInnovate. Comprising two modular courses: “DApps and Solidity” and “Blockchain Networks”, eligible trainees may receive course and certification funding support through the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA)1 CITREP+ programme.

Aligned with the Committee on the Future Economy’s recommendation for individuals to acquire and utilise deep skills, this new programme is designed to upskill and transform current software programmers into certified blockchain developers. The first workshop is set to take place in November 2018, and this milestone programme is a testament to SGInnovate’s aim of further strengthening human capital for Singapore’s deep tech startup ecosystem. Besides the launch of the blockchain developer programme, SGInnovate also announced that it is adding more resources to the AI-systems startup landscape by investing in three deep tech startups – Tricog Technologies, ThinCI Inc and Quantiply:

Tricog Health is a deep tech AI startup that aims to solve the healthcare challenge of saving millions of lives lost to the world’s leading cause of death – heart disease. Powered by a hybrid of advanced machine learning algorithms working alongside a team of cardiologists, the Tricog ECG solution enables health care workers across the globe to diagnose heart diseases in real time, saving time and lives. Since 2014, Tricog has touched the lives of over 1.1 million patients across 12 countries. 

ThinCI Inc builds Ultra-Energy-Efficient computing platforms that support AI applications, including deep learning, vision processing and machine intelligence. The company is focused on building the technology that will allow AI to be embedded into mass market devices, accelerating the ubiquity of AI-powered devices for everyday use.

Quantiply specialises in the use of AI to automate and speed up the Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer processes in financial institutions. By providing a largely automated and intelligent alert/ case management system, Quantiply helps financial institutions implement highly effective controls against the increasing complexity of financial crimes. 

“Our mission is to form, fund and build deep tech startups founded by scientist-entrepreneurs. Through hands-on work with hundreds of scientists, engineers, investors and academics, SGInnovate has gained a unique perspective of the challenges and needs of these technical founders,” said Leonard. "Any deep tech startup must have the right Human Capital and Investment Capital to succeed. That is why all our work is captured in these two pillars. This commitment of our focus was made during the announcement of SGInnovate's Deep Tech Nexus strategy in 2017." He added, “We are excited to share news of the most recent actions SGInnovate has taken to contribute to Singapore’s innovation-led economy. The equity investments we’ve made into Tricog Health, Quantiply and ThinCI Inc; and our launch of Singapore’s first certified blockchain developer programme, are examples of how we are helping build a deep tech startup ecosystem through our focus on Human Capital and Investment Capital”.

About SGInnovate 

At SGInnovate, we believe that Singapore has all the resources and capabilities needed to tackle ‘hard problems' that matter to people around the world. As part of our Deep Tech Nexus Strategy, we are focused on adding tangible value to the Singapore deep tech startup ecosystem in two key areas – development of Human Capital and deployment of Investment Capital. With the support of our partners and co-investors, we back deeply technical founders through equity-based investments, access to talent, and support in building customer traction. Our efforts are prioritised around transformational technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and MedTech, which represent impactful and scalable answers to global challenges. SGInnovate is a private-limited company wholly owned by the Singapore Government. 

For more information, please visit www.sginnovate.com

Media contacts

Grace Chiang 
SGInnovate 
[email protected] 

Ho Chin Ann 
IN.FOM (Partnering agency of SGInnovate) 
[email protected] 

Appendix
PDF: Appendix - Quotes from partners and portfolio companies