Welcome Speech by ACE’s CEO at Launch of Accredited Mentor Partners (AMP) Circle

 

WELCOME SPEECH BY MR. DOMINIC ANG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACTION COMMUNITY FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ACE),

AT THE LAUNCH OF ACCREDITED MENTOR PARTNERS (AMP) CIRCLE ON 13 AUGUST 2021 AT 10.10AM

1        A very warm welcome to all of you – startups, Accredited Mentor Partners (AMPs) as well as friends from Enterprise Singapore (ESG). We are very delighted to join you today at the Launch of the AMP Circle. 

ACE as the National Voice for Singapore Startup Ecosystem

2       As some of you may know, Action Community for Entrepreneurship, also affectionately known as ACE, was established in 2003 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to transform the entrepreneurial landscape in Singapore. In 2014, ACE was re-launched as a private-led, non-profit organisation, and we took up residence here in LaunchPad @ one-north. 

3       We are a Tier-1 TAC, or trade association, and we represent the interests of the nearly 4,000 startups in Singapore today. More than that, we also see ourselves as the national voice for the startup ecosystem. Through our engagement with key stakeholder partners/pillars such as corporates, institutes of higher learning, public sector agencies and risk capital companies, our aim is to create a nurturing environment for startups in Singapore. 

ACE’s Role in the AMP Circle 

4       In the early years of the Startup SG Founder programme, ACE was one of the original AMPs. As the ecosystem developed, more AMPs sprouted as can be seen by the strong representation here this morning. Instead, ACE has decided to cease to be an AMP and focus on being a neutral organisation supporting other AMPs in contributing to the growth of the community.  

5       When ESG mooted the idea of forming an AMP Circle, we fully supported it. ACE is very honoured to be appointed by ESG as the Lead Community Partner in this initiative. We look forward to collaborating with ecosystem stakeholders, like yourselves, to build a more vibrant and supportive startup community. 

ACE Supports AMPs in Increasing Reach and Improving Quality of Startups 

6       Currently, ACE organises many events and activities for startups, ranging from bootcamps to masterclasses to mentorship sessions and industry roundtables.  

7       ACE also manages other programmes like the Global Ready Talent (GRT) programme for startups, where we help to process and approve applications for funding support for student internships. We also partner with large corporations to run corporate innovation challenges so that startups could have the opportunity to build their own track records.  

8       Our programmes and activities help to improve the quality of startups as well as provide AMPs with the opportunity to reach out to these startups. We welcome all AMPs to collaborate with us on our programmes.  

ACE’s Plans for AMP Circle

9       As the Lead Community Partner for the AMP Circle, ACE will be extending invites to all of you to our existing events and programmes going forward. These will serve as an excellent platform for networking with startups. An example would be for AMPs to join us at our bootcamp which we call BACECAMP, as speakers. These speaking opportunities would help you to scout for good startups which you may wish to support henceforth.  

10     In the mid to long term, ACE, with the support from ESG, plans to organise more events and programmes specifically just amongst AMPs.

11     In conclusion, I look forward to working with all of you in this AMP Circle to make it a great success. There is much work ahead of us, but as has been said in the African proverb: We may go fast if we go alone, but we will go further if we go together.

12     Thank you for participating in today’s launch.

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