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After a decade spent nurturing Singapore's start-ups, the Action Community for Entrepreneurship is gearing up for its next phase.迷你倉 KAN KWOK LEONG reportsIN 2003, as entrepreneurship emerged as the new buzzword that would drive Singapore's next stage of economic growth, an alliance was forged between the government and private sector players to help grow a new generation of innovative risk-takers.Along the banks of Singapore River near the spot where Stamford Raffles first landed, government officials and well-known local entrepreneurs gathered at a glitzy restaurant to unveil the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) - a private and public sector initiative to seed and nurture start-ups in Singapore.A decade on, after overcoming scepticism and entrenched mindsets, Singapore's entrepreneurial scene is flourishing, with both fresh graduates and mid-career professionals throwing caution to the wind to open restaurants and develop Web applications; a development that has resulted in part due to ACE's efforts.Mindset shift"ACE has reached its first decade in championing the entrepreneurship cause. We have gained much ground since we started and are seeing a mindset shift where entrepreneurship is no longer regarded as just a driver for economic growth, but a positive changing force in society, and a viable career option," says Teo Ser Luck, ACE chairman and Minister of State for Trade and Industry.Most tangibly, the body has tackled head-on the issue of funding for new businesses through the ACE start-up grant, which matches $7 for every $3 raised by the entrepreneur for up to $50,000.The grant is open to first-time entrepreneurs who are Singaporean citizens or permanent residents and whose business must not be registered more than six months after submission.ACE deputy chairman Steven Fang believes that it has been successful in achieving two critical changes in the Singapore entrepreneurial community and in developing the local economy.In its first five years, ACE focused on developing the number of start-ups and in changing the entrepreneurial mindset among Singaporeans. More recently, it has concentrated its efforts in assisting these start-ups and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) to grow into regional and global players."This has been a critical milestone as part of Singapore's economic diversification and towards a more self-sustaining economy. This will (also) enable the SME clusters here to grow both in scale and in economic contribution," says Dr Fanmini storage, the founder of CordLife, Singapore's first private cord blood bank. He became a partner of Singapore-based technology incubator Clearbridge Accelerator at the start of the year.While community and education efforts have played a part in fostering entrepreneurship here, the early successes of high-profile Singaporean start-ups like gaming company Razer and bakery BreadTalk have also inspired budding businessmen and women."(These companies provided) the much-needed proof of concept that it is possible for start-up companies in Singapore to exist," explains Dr Fang.In terms of specific sectors, he believes that the biomedical, healthcare, animation, sporting and education segments show strong promise in terms of growth and scalability.Having laid the groundwork for the start-up scene to develop in Singapore, ACE is now looking at ways to further develop the sector in the coming years.It has set up an Entrepreneurship Review Committee (EnRC) this year to gather feedback from various key stakeholders in the entrepreneurship community, says Mr Teo."At this milestone, we are taking the opportunity to refresh our objectives and goals against the evolved landscape, and envision how to shape our entrepreneurship scene in the next 10 years. This will also help to determine ACE's role in achieving that," he notes.One insight the new committee has found is that start-ups face similar challenges as SMEs, including talent attraction and market access, especially for overseas expansion. ACE is currently exploring various ways to address these issues and will be sharing its findings and proposed recommendations early next year, he adds.Dr Fang believes that funding, the perennial bugbear for new businesses, will continue to be another major challenge. "We need to build a more comprehensive funding ecosystem to drive globalisation efforts and business growth. This is an area of development that is a function of time and effort," he points outs.Important roleMeanwhile, ACE will continue to play an important role in the journey as an adviser, supporter and bridge for start-ups here, says Mr Teo.He adds that it is critical for the private sector to continue its involvement in such efforts. "We hope that more will step up to play a part in growing the start-up community. Fast-tracking to the next decade, we envision a strong, organic network of investors, mentors and partners where aspiring entrepreneurs can tap on for connections and resources as they work to realise their dreams."儲存