2016 SparkLabs Global Year-End Review
Here’s an overview of Sparklabs Global in 2016. I am so fortunate to be working with such a fun and brilliant partners & entrepreneurs. Its all about the team. With the right type of people, the sky is the limit! Here’s what we announced and a taste of whats coming in 2007:
Sparklabs Smart City & IoT Accelerator in Korea
Our SparkLabsIoT Accelerator have an exclusive relationship with Songdo, a $35 billion smart city being built in South Korea. Based in Songdo, we provide a five-month mentorship program, funding, office space, a structure program, and access to a network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, and executives.
The startups in the first batch are from the U.S., South Korea, Ireland, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Australia.
On average, each company has raised more than $2.7 million prior to starting in the program. But each company will get a $30,000 or greater investment from SparkLabs IoT Smart City accelerator.
Sparklabs Beijing Accelerator with CITIC Guan Academy
Guoan Academy is a subsidiary of CITIC Guoan Group, which is the largest industrial subsidiary of CITIC Group. CITIC Group is a leading state-run financial institutional in China with over US$514 billion in assets under management. Guoan Academy is the largest and leading professional knowledge service provider in China’s startup ecosystem.
This is nationwide partnership where they asked us to target Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen afterwards. Beyond China, we have been approached to expand our accelerator to Taipei, Tokyo and considering Jakarta, Tel Aviv, Stockholm and other locations in the coming years.
These expansions will assist in solidifying our strong deal flow in each of these growing startup hubs, assist in vetting founders and companies more efficiently and effectively, and increase our reputation.
Sparklabs FinTech Accelerator in Hong Kong
In December 2016 we also welcomed William Chu as a Venture Partner at Sparklabs Global Ventures and Managing Partner for SparkLabs FinTech in Hong Kong, which will be a new accelerator that we are launching under SparkLabs. More about the fintech Accelerator later this year. William joins us from Zheng He Capital, a Hong Kong based private equity firm with a focus on fintech and healthcare.
He was the lead investor role in the US$500MM A Round financing of Ping An Good Doctor, a Ping An Insurance subsidiary tasked with building an online health ecosystem in China.
SparkLabs Academy
Sparklabs Academy is our new initiative to help the future entrepreneurs of tomorrow through a new academic program called SparkLabs Academy that will focus on helping students structure innovative ideas using Arduino prototyping platform to solve the problems we face in today’s world.
So as you can see we have been busy!
When we first started out we clearly stated that we are a new kind of global seed fund. We are making sure to deliver on that promise, this year you’ll notice our increased presence around the world. And if anything that we do rings a bell, don’t be stranger. See you out there!
