Fresh support for Singapore health and energy startups

The Singapore Government has signed new partnerships to support startups in the health and energy sectors.

The Infocomm Development Authority is setting up a new accelerator called Airmaker to grow startups with products based on sensors, including wearables for healthcare, smart building management, and manufacturing.

IDA’s investment arm, Infocomm Investments, signed a deal with two companies, Ascendas-Singbridge and China’s Runyang Group to set the program up.

It signed another partnership with utilities provider, Singapore Power, on an accelerator for energy startups. The utility will invest S$4 million to find new startups with innovative energy solutions.

The moves are part of Singapore’s Smart Nation vision. The government needs to work with startups “to devise new solutions that can tackle areas such as healthcare, transportation and resources sustainability”, said Steve Leonard, Executive Deputy Chairman of IDA.

A third partnership was signed with IBM focused on startups building artificial intelligence apps for health, public sector, finance, retail, and travel.