Singtel Innov8 announce second installment of Innov8 Connect, following the success of its first worldwide call to start-ups

Singapore, 13 September, 2016 – Singtel Innov8 announced the second installment of its Innov8 Connect programme that brings start-ups and Singtel Group members together to create innovative solutions for real world business challenges.

On the programme’s importance for innovating with start-ups, Mr Tay Soo Meng, Group Chief Technology Officer at Singtel said, “Innov8 Connect started as a win-win platform to help start-ups develop viable business solutions while allowing the Singtel Group to stay at the cutting-edge of innovation through continuous experimentation. We hope to uncover more innovative answers for real emerging business challenges with start-ups in this latest installment of the programme.”

The second installment rides on the success and momentum of the initial Innov8 Connect programme launched in January 2016, which attracted over 120 submissions from start- ups across 22 countries. Singtel shortlisted 14 start-ups for detailed discussions for potential proof-of-concepts (POCs) - some of which include: Xjera Labs for smart and safe city and Moogsoft, Opmantek and Zinier for enterprise operations.

Mr Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8 said, “We have been very encouraged with the results of the first installment of Innov8 Connect, which has clearly demonstrated the value that start-ups can bring to Singtel. We hope to repeat the success again in this second installment.”

In this new round of Innov8 Connect, 14 new business challenges have been identified by Singtel and its Australian arm, Optus, in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality solutions and artificial intelligence. Please see Annex A.

Relating to this round’s challenges, Mr Hardless added, “We look forward to working together with more start-ups on the new set of business challenges from this second installment of Innov8 Connect. Through these real challenges that businesses face, we hope to spur greater innovation while identifying and supporting viable solutions that meet the Group’s needs.”

Selected start-ups will be provided with up to S$75,000 to test and validate the solutions with Singtel and Optus as proof-of-concepts. Successful solutions from promising start- ups may lead to further commercialisation with the Singtel Group, as they will gain access to an extensive customer base that includes both enterprises and over 600 million mobile subscribers across Asia, Australia and Africa. These start-ups will also have the opportunity to seek funding from Singtel Innov8 and tap on its network of co- investors and partners across the globe.

Interested start-ups can submit their proposals to Innov8 Connect from today onwards. The closing date for submission of proposals is 31 October 2016.

Innov8 Connect Application and Selection Process

For more information on Innov8 Connect, please visit the Innov8 Connect portal www.innov8connect.com where briefs detailing the 14 new business challenges will be published. Start-ups with relevant solutions are invited to submit their applications through the portal from today. Selected start-ups will then be invited to pitch to a panel of management representatives from the Singtel Group.

Project Briefs

More details on the second set of 14 project briefs can be found in Annex A.

Annex A: Innov8 Connect Briefs for Second Installment starting from 8 September 2016 onwards

Brief Title	Short Description of Briefs
1. Enhancing customer experience with a voice-based digital interface	Solutions that provide voice control on existing devices and technology to enhance the customers’ digital experience.
2. Network security for the connected home	Solutions that protect the next generation of connected homes with a diverse mix of smart devices from emerging digital threats.
3. New consumer IoT application and services	Smart Solutions that utilise the next generation of IoT technologies to enhance our daily lives.
4. Revolutionising the driving experience	Smartphone solutions to provide smart concierge services to enhance the driving experience
5. Using augmented reality to empower customers	Smartphone solutions to provide augmented reality support to enhance user engagement of existing customer self-service activities.
6. Artificial intelligence and automation in network operations	Solutions covering networking optimisation, monitoring and troubleshooting to transform network operation centres into service operation centres.
7. Innovative video compression technologies	Next generation solutions to enhance video delivery for 3G/4G mobile infrastructure through advance techniques of compression.
8. Next generation workflow management platform	Workflow management solutions that support multiple mobile devices with a seamless dashboard offering reporting capabilities, central data repository, notification and alerts.
9. Automating in-store retail operations	Solutions to introduce and deploy automation within a retail environment to enhance in-store staff efficiency and customer satisfaction.
10. Next generation supply chain management platform	Solutions which utilise data-analytics and deep learning to optimise supply chain and inventory management.
11. Personalising the customer experience across different devices	Solutions that identify and recognise users uniquely across multiple devices to provide a consistent experience for them.

12. Transforming the contact centre experience	Solutions to integrate multiple applications and information sources on a single and easy to access platform to enhance the customer self-service and customer agent experience.
13. Family cloud service	Community-based solutions to provide cloud services that facilitates communal sharing of personal content and information.
14. Intelligent entertainment discovery	Personalisation solutions that intelligently aggregate and recommend content that are tailored to your personal preference and behavior across multiple sources.

Detailed briefs are available on http://innov8connect.com.

About Singtel Innov8

Singtel Innov8, the venture capital arm of the Singtel Group, invests in and partners with innovative tech start-ups worldwide. It has a fund size of US$250 million and its own set of decision making, approval and funding processes. Beyond funding, Singtel Innov8 is a gateway for start-ups to tap on the resources and expertise of the Singtel Group, while enabling the Group to gain access to emerging technologies. Singtel Innov8 focuses its investments on technologies and solutions that can lead to quantum changes in network capabilities, next generation devices, digital services and enablers to enhance customer experience. Headquartered in Singapore, Singtel Innov8 also has offices in San Francisco and Tel Aviv.

For more info, visit innov8.singtel.com or follow @singtelinnov8 on Twitter.