Open Data Institute is Accepting Applications for its Accelerator Program

Open Data Institute (ODI) a leading advocate of open data that is building a strong and sustainable data economy, is calling all startups across the ASEAN region to participate in its accelerator program, where they will have a chance to learn from key industry experts and leverage on the global network that ODI has to offer.

The ASEAN Data Startup Accelerator (ADSA) is a high-value mentorship program that aims to spur world-class innovation among startups and solve problems in the ASEAN region by using data. The services that the ADSA program offer is worth over USD$20,000.

An initiative developed in collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), ODI held its first ADSA cohort early this year. The first cohort saw eight startups from various parts of ASEAN. Four of the startups are Malaysian-based startups, from various sectors participating in this comprehensive accelerator program. The ADSA program has provided support to help startups achieve sustainable success through comprehensive trainings in data analytics and data science, expert advice and connections to the ODI and MDEC’s regional and international network.

“ADSA is aligned with the establishment of ASEAN Data Analytics Exchange (ADAX) by MDEC to develop startups and organisations in becoming more data driven. We would like to see especially our local and ASEAN startups to adopt Data Science into their products,” said Ir. Dr. Karl Ng, Director of Data Economy at MDEC.

Startup Manager of Open Data Institute, Divakar Subramaniam commented “This accelerator program is an extended platform that aims to help nurture startups and take them to the next level of growth. It benefits the startup community by providing networking opportunities that will help improve their business objectives and build partnerships, as well as enhance their competitive edge and market accessibility, which will increase their chances to compete globally.

“Participating startups will be exposed to an intensive six-month program, which include commercial phase trainings on pitching and leadership, as well as comprehensive technical phase trainings. Furthermore, participants will have an opportunity to acquire shared knowledge and guidance by industry experts from ODI and MDEC – which will be a valuable experience for ADSA’s startup community,” added Divakar.

In addition to that, participants will also have a chance to attend fully-funded bootcamps in Kuala Lumpur. The week-long bootcamps are divided into two categories – commercial and data bootcamps. The commercial bootcamp, happening in November, focuses on grooming the startups to become investor-ready. This include tactics and strategies of pitching and fine-tuning business models. The data bootcamp, held in January, will be more focused on providing analytics and data science trainings, in order to help startups solve problems using data more efficiently.

Participating startups will also be invited to attend showcase events at the ADSA graduation ceremony in March 2018, where they will have an opportunity to meet and connect with investors, they will also be directly connected to the ODI’s London team on a fortnightly basis to help them find opportunities in other markets 10 Lucky startups will be selected to attend a fully-funded week long bootcamp in London.

Divakar believes that ODI’s accelerator program also provides a dynamic environment for participants and mentors to interact with each other and participate in fruitful discussions. This will help startups to exchange ideas and eventually, shape their big ideas and concepts into a viable business plan.

Although the program is open to the general startup community across ASEAN region, ODI has developed a set of criteria and requirements for participant selection. “We are particularly interested in ASEAN-based startups that are using data as a central part of their proposition. Startups that are partnering or planning to partner with larger organizations to develop solutions for agriculture, future cities, the internet of things, media, telecommunication and financial services – these are the startups that we are looking for. They must also have a basic prototype before submitting their application to join ADSA,” shared Divakar.

Startups that were selected for the first ADSA cohort team include Wrzit, CropBASE, BTI, and Katsana from Malaysia, Lorax AI from Philippines, CityPlan and Tune Map from Indonesia and Urbanetic from Singapore.

Many startups from across the region have already submitted their entries to be part of the second cohort of ADSA, which is set to kick off on 26th September, followed by the KL bootcamp selection. Startups and innovators working with data are encouraged to apply here before August 31, 2017. For more information visit www.aseandatastartupaccelerator.com/.

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 About Open Data Institute

The Open Data Institute (ODI) was co-founded by the inventor of World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee and AI expert Sir Nigel Shadbolt to address today’s global challenges using the web of data. The ODI is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan company that brings together commercial and non-commercial organizations and governments to help identify and address how the web of data will impact their businesses and sectors.

The ODI runs the ASEAN Data Startup Accelerator (ADSA), building on their open data expertise and experience running various accelerator programs in Europe

For more information, kindly visit https://theodi.org/

About ASEAN Data Startup Accelerator

The ASEAN Data Startup Accelerator (ADSA) is an accelerator for data driven startups in the ASEAN region. ADSA is run by the Open Data Institute (ODI) in partnership with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). Cohorts of ADSA startups follow a six-month program based at the ASEAN Data Analytics eXchange (ADAX) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with activities across ASEAN and in ODI’s headquarters in London, UK.