Asia Hardware Battle 2018: Looking for tech in the tropics of Southeast Asia

Aug 30, 2018
|In Events
|By Suzanne Tsai
3 min read

When people think of Southeast Asia, island-hopping, sacred elephants, elaborate temples, good coffee, and a vibrant nightlife typically come to mind. What people might overlook is the untapped potential of the Southeast Asian tech sector. China, however, seems to have noticed the rise of talented entrepreneurs, with Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Tencent pouring capital into the region. We’ve noticed this too, and that’s why we’re bringing Asia Hardware Battle (AHB) 2018 to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

Now accepting applications!

We are currently in the Online Registration phase. We’re looking for hardware startups with Pre-Series A or a total funding of less than $5 million. Startups must have a prototype, and projects must exhibit the following: creativity, pain point resolution, business value, sustainable development, technical innovation, and product design.

Note: We are only looking for startups from Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, India, and Malaysia.

Preliminary Selection

After online registrations are complete, applicants will be reviewed and 10 teams from each city will be chosen to take part in City Pitching. City Pitching will be half-day affairs taking place city-by-city. Startups will be given 7 minutes for pitch and demo, followed by an intense round of questions from prominent judges in the industry. After all 10 startups have completed their pitch, judges will deliberate over the top winner. The top winner from each city will automatically qualify for the final, and remaining runner-up teams will undergo stringent preliminary selection by top international judges including, but not limited to, professionals, corporates, and VCs from TechCrunch, BMW, SoftBank, 500 Startups, and many more.

Final Challenge

Only 15 teams will emerge to take part in The Grand Finals held in Shanghai.

A rundown of the awards:

  • AHB Gold: RMB 50,000
  • AHB Silver: RMB 30,000
  • AHB Bronze: RMB 10,000
  • Top 3 Winners are entitled to 6 months of 7 complimentary workspaces, courtesy of NodeSpace.
  • Top 15 Finalists will get the chance to interact and network with our distinguished judges and conduct exclusive interviews with TechNode and our media partners.
  • Top 15 Finalists will be invited to our branded events.

Singapore

Singapore is among one of the Southeast Asian countries to host AHB City Pitching. (Fun fact: The Southeast Asian R&D hub was ranked #3 in the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index, meanwhile the U.S. fell out of the top 10 for the first time in history.) On September 21, AHB Singapore City Pitching, also a fringe partner event of SWITCH, will be held at JTC LaunchPad at Jurong Innovation District.

JTC is a Singaporean state owned agency that spearheads the planning, promotion, and development of the country’s dynamic industrial landscape. Today, JTC continues to break new ground with pioneering projects that not only support the changing needs of today’s industries but also anticipate the future needs of new industries.

Our other Singapore partners

AHB Singapore City Pitching is also well supported by many strategic partners:

Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), IP Value Lab, EnterpriseSG, Focustech Ventures, NUS Enterprise, PBA Group, SGTech, Startup-O, and TNB Ventures.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

On September 29, AHB City Pitching will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Our Malaysia partner Second Startup by TE4P will be hosting this session at WORQ TTDI.

Second Startup by TE4P is a 12-week program for early stage startups in IoT & FinTech. Self-proclaimed “Mentorship on Steroid,” Second Startup provides an experienced guide in relevant fields to help inexperienced teams accomplish their goals a lot faster. By matching the correct mentor to startup, Second Startup provides a platform where mentors and startups can interact via a standard process to match criteria on both sides.

Bangkok, Thailand

In Bangkok, Thailand our partner RISE Accelerator will be organizing AHB City Pitching on September 12 at the Amarin Plaza Building.

RISE is a regional corporate accelerator focused on developing corporations and startups to meet international standards by assisting in solving problems, accelerating their businesses, and unlocking their potential in the fast way possible. RISE’s mission is to drive one percent of Thailand’s GDP growth, or $4 billion, and create one million jobs for the country through its four core activities.

Its four business pillars are Accelerator, where RISE partners with top corporations and government agencies in Thailand to empower tech innovators; Academy, a program that focuses on action-based learning; Community, its global network that provides community services to bring young leaders, startups, corporates, VCs, and experts in the region together; and Venture, where it collaborates with key players and industry leaders to consult or co-create businesses that fit the Southeast Asian ecosystem.

Jakarta, Indonesia

AHB City Pitching in Jakarta, Indonesia will be held by our venue partner BLOCK71 Jakarta on September 24.

At a glance, BLOCK71 Jakarta is a one-stop hub to support entrepreneurs on their journey, a supportive vibrant incubator community, and a global startup network. Building on the success of BLOCK71 in Singapore, NUS Enterprise has collaborated with local and overseas partners to set up similar business hubs to help startups penetrate into different economies. Startups can leverage the co-working space and incubation services like mentoring, networking sessions, hot-desking facilities, as well as overseas grant support or startup funding to kick-start their expansion plans.

Visit the AHB official website for more information.

Asia Hardware Battle