Singapore-based venture capital accelerator Accelerating Asia Ventures has officially opened applications for the 10th Cohort of its flagship accelerator program — a milestone achievement for one of the longest running regional accelerator-VCs.
With a portfolio of over 80 startups, the flagship 100-day accelerator has helped many startups achieve significant growth. Startups accelerated have collectively raised over US$64 million in funding and seen on average a 300% growth in their business during the 100-day program.
Founded by Amra Naidoo and Craig Dixon in 2018, Accelerating Asia Ventures invests up to US$250,000 in each startup accepted into the program. Apart from the investment and the program, successful startups gain access to qualified mentorship opportunities, access to a global network of investors and industry experts, access to private portfolio investor networking events and join a thriving alumni community of over 150 founders.
Accelerating Asia Ventures works closely with angel investors, family offices and other institutional investors who are looking for diversified investment opportunities into early-stage startups. Through the accelerator program, the Accelerating Asia Ventures team works hands-on with these startups and provides opportunities to investors, benefiting both startups and investors in our network.
Accelerating Asia Ventures identifies startups with tech-based solutions, revenue and early traction; that are in high-growth, underserved Southeast Asia and South Asia markets; and are falling in the seed-pre-series A funding gap.
“Accelerating Asia Ventures is the Y Combinator of Southeast Asia, with a more relevant program for Founders in the region. After the accelerator we were better able to focus on building and scaling our business,” said Anggia Meisesari, co-founder of TransTrackID in Indonesia.
“The Accelerating Asia Ventures team helped us sharpen our messages and approach to fund-raising and to accelerate our growth. The program is tailored to the needs of each startup, so people that go through the program get maximum benefit for their stage,” added Tim Davies, co-founder of Waitrr, based in Singapore.
“Accelerating Asia Ventures successfully melds a highly skilled and passionate team who are not hesitant to share their knowledge, a smart and engaging accelerator program with useful startup resources, and a strong network of investors, mentors and alumni,” noted JT Solis, co-founder of Philippines’ very own Mayani.
“We really like the no-nonsense approach that was the key thing, and the second was the help with fund-raising. The reason we joined the accelerator was because we are first-time founders. There are a lot of things, we don’t know what we don’t know, and that is the gap we wanted to bridge with the accelerator program,” said Dirk-Jan ter Horst, co-founder of Drive-Lah.
“[While] there is a ton of generic information available about running a startup, at Accelerating Asia Ventures the focus is on immediately actionable tactics,” Project Pro Co-Founder & CEO Binny Mathews added. “It also really helps that the Accelerating Asia team is a set of people who genuinely want us to succeed so they are hustling for us every day.”
In Accelerating Asia Ventures’ accelerator program, cohorts set the goals and priorities for the week; review progress from the past week; gain insights from fellow founders and leverage the knowledge, power and value of the cohort.
There are also master-classes with mentors, each of which are tailored to address the needs of the cohort, from SEO deep dives to financial modeling and capital-raising. These are coupled with customized one-to-one sessions with entrepreneurs-in-residence for deep dives on fund-raising strategy, business models, growth loops and product, and storytelling and pitch coaching designed to better communicate startups investor value proposition.
The accelerator program also offers operational support to ensure startups from all markets across the region have solid company and governance practices to make them international investor-ready.
The program also connects and introduces cohorts to active angels ready to invest now and later-stage VCs to shore up opportunities for follow-on investment.
For any startup looking to apply to the program, a webinar is set on July 3, where Accelerating Asia Ventures’s Co-Founder and General Partner Amra Naidoo will answer questions in an “Ask Me Anything” session. Interested participants may visit https://www.acceleratingasia.com/events/ama-with-amra-naidoo to register.
The application deadline for Cohort 10 is July 5. Interested applicants may submit by visiting https://www.acceleratingasia.com/programs/accelerating-asia-flagship-program.
