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Dsion, a blockchain platform dedicated to establishing a healthy start-up funding ecosystem, successfully hosted the Startup Challenge: Singapore finals at PSB Academy in Marina Square on the 9th. The contest was co-hosted by BlockOn Capital PTE. LTD., which operates the local corporate body of the Silicon Valley-based venture capital company Founders Space.
Startup Challenge gathered many promising Singaporean start-ups equipped with innovative ideas and new items to compete for investment and prize money. Over 80 companies signed up for the contest over the three weeks between the 1st and the 21st of last month. Ten companies were selected as finalists after four days of preliminaries starting on the 1st of this month.
Out of the ten finalists, five companies were awarded a grand total of 20,000 SGD (16.44 million KRW) through the finals of Startup Challenge: Singapore. First place went to Beam and Go, a platform for gift card remittance, while second place went to Lendor, a P2P rental platform. There was a tie for third place between Goalsmapper, a personal financial planning and asset management consulting services company, and Good for Food, a food waste management consulting services company. People's Choice was awarded to the company that received the most votes from the public, and this year's winner was Towber, a platform that connects drivers of broken-down vehicles to tow truck services. Good for Food was a two-time winner, also winning Investor's Choice for receiving the most votes from investors.
First place was awarded 15,000 SGD (approximately 12.34 million KRW); second place, 3,000 SGD (approximately 2.46 million KRW); and third place, 2,000 SGD (approximately 1.64 million KRW). Meanwhile, Towber and Good for Food, winners of People's Choice and Investor's Choice, respectively, were each awarded an investment of 100,000 SGD (approximately 82.26 million KRW) from the start-up accelerator Founders Space, which is operated by co-host BlockOn Capital.
Dsion, the host of Startup Challenge: Singapore, is currently undergoing an ICO and is combining crowdfunding and securities investment systems through blockchain, establishing a platform for a healthy investment ecosystem of the future. Dsion has plans to expand into the global blockchain market to further develop its platform. Startup Challenge is a part of these efforts, discovering and investing in potential unicorn companies, thereby allowing start-ups to participate in the Dsion platform.
Dsion CEO Seo Jong-pil highly praised the results of the contest in an interview with the local media in Singapore, revealing that he was "deeply inspired by the business ideas from Singaporean start-ups" and that "there were three or four items that could be implemented right away in Korea."
Chairman Jagdish Pandya of BlockOn Capital, the co-host of the contest with Dsion, said, "I am delighted to have met many talented entrepreneurs in Singapore." Moreover, Pandya encouraged the participants by saying, "Failure is an inevitable part of everyone's life, no matter how innovative one's ideas may be, but one must not be discouraged but rather use that failure as the driving force for innovation and take the next step toward success."
Dsion, which successfully hosted its contest in Singapore, completed a successful private sale in October and first pre-sale in November and is currently holding its second pre-sale.
