Huawei Technologies (Thailand) collaborates with depa, NIA and other well-known partners to kick start “Spark Ignite 2021 – Thailand Startup Competition”, calling for tech startups across Thailand to join this competition for a chance to enter the Huawei Spark Accelerator programme – a programme which aims to incubate and accelerate company growth and build an ecosystem for businesses not only in Thailand but also all over the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Huawei Spark is a hybrid accelerator programme for deep tech startups that have business in Asia Pacific, officially launched in 2020. It is founded by HUAWEI CLOUD& AI Business Group and underpinned by Huawei technological & innovation leadership. It is now being brought for the first time to Thailand, with the purpose to incubate and accelerate domestic startups growth by providing financial support, technical support, training & resources, go-to-market support, mentoring & networking, spark fire program, etc.
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The Spark programme mainly focus on firms that use 5G, Enterprise Intelligence (EI) / Machine Learning & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), Edge Computing and Software as a Service (SaaS) applications to be as their core technology solution or product and service.
Spark Ignite Startup Competition is one of the crucial fast-tracks to get the chance to join the Huawei Spark Accelerator programme. In 2020, Spark Ignite – Global Startup Competition attracted more than 500 applications from 75 countries globally. 15 winning teams were emerged from and admitted into the spark program in Dec 2020. A few of them e.g. Scantist, Ucars have achieved visible growth such as business growth and expansion, fund raising and company valuation
By kick-starting this Thailand startup competition, Huawei Thailand is officially looking for domestic innovative startups with pioneering tech solutions in Financial Services & Insurance, Healthcare, Education, Telecommunications, e-commerce/Internet, Media & Gaming, and Mobile Application. It expects to drive the output in these areas to build a digital Thailand together with the eco-system partners.
However, it must be noticed that most products and services from Thai digital startups are lacking Deep Technology, which can increase competitiveness and create differences, including value added in the international market. This event, “Spark Ignite 2021 – Thailand Startup Competition”, is a great opportunity to collaborate with Huawei and other agencies to create opportunities for knowledge sharing and know how to develop advance technologies, that can spark an idea and experience for Thai digital startups and scale up their potential in the international level. ” said Asst. Prof. Dr.Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin
The launching ceremony is followed by a panel discussion titled “How Governments and Corporations Jointly Help Startups Become an Important Cornerstone for Thailand’s Digitalization”. The discussion is moderated by Dr.Chawapol Jariyawiroj, president of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and featuring experts from the tech ecosystem in Thailand.
Pariwat Wongsamran director of Innovative Entrepreneur and Enterprise Director of Startup Thailand (NIA) revealed while doing panel discussion, “This collaboration is the important milestone for startup ecosystem in Thailand, especially for deep tech startups development. NIA has a mission to develop the deep tech startups in various technologies such as AI, Robotic, and IoT. Thus, this collaborative programme aligned with our mission accordingly. We highly hope that this programme will incubate and accelerate Thai startups to the regional market very soon and to be the new engine of growth for Thailand”
CEO of Huawei Thailand Abel Deng reiterated Huawei Thailand’s mission to Grow in Thailand and Contribute to Thailand, under which the company has always been committed to supporting local business in digital transformation and boosting the local ecosystem through partnerships.
“We are highly encouraged and inspired by our collaboration with DEPA, NIA, KBTG, TusPark WHA, Zanroo and other valued partners to work together for Thailand tech ecosystem growth. Innovation is borderless, with openness and collaboration being the foundation. As a technology-leading partner, Huawei will keep driving Thailand’s ICT infrastructure development as well as enabling our ecosystem partners with digital capabilities.” Said Mr. Abel Deng, “We are fully confident in startups’ potential to create more job opportunities, to support the post-pandemic economic recovery, and to boost economic dynamism by spurring innovation and injecting competition. Through this Thailand Spark Ignite Startup Competition, we look forward to identifying excellent startups to enter the Spark programme, by which they can obtain opportunities of financial, go-to-market, and IT support from Huawei, and become Cloud technology partners.”
This competition, aiming to be one of Thailand’s biggest and most influential start-up events, will highlight key aspects Thailand’s start-up ecosystem, feature 10 high potential startups from the whole country, and connect founders, venture firms, corporations and government. Companies can submit their first pitches during the application period between 20th May and 20th July, 2021, to be selected to join the Spark programme after 2 times shortlisting and final pitch.
The company in the competition will receive the prizes correspondingly including:
Top 1st Winner:
USD 125K Cloud Credits
Admission to the Huawei Spark Program, in the “Accelerate” Tier
Admission to Huawei Spark Fire
Admission to Spark Go-China program
Ranked 2nd to 3rd:
USD 80K Cloud Credits
Admission to the Huawei Spark Program “Accelerate” Tier
Admission to Spark Go-China program
Ranked 4th to 5th:
USD 20K Cloud Credits
Admission to the Huawei Spark Program “Incubate” Tier
Ranked 6th to 10th:
USD 5K Cloud Credits
Mentorship Opportunities:
One-to-one pre-competition mentorship session with Huawei mentors for Top 20 selected startups
Opportunity to be coached by Spark Advisory Council, comprising of 10 C-level industry leaders
Mobile App Track Prizes:
Top 2 Winners: USD 50K worth of Go-To-Market resources and support
3rd: USD 25K worth of Go-To-Market resources and support
4th & 5th: USD 10K worth of Go-To-Market resources and support
The Top 5 will be fast-tracked to AppsUP 2021
Access to 5-week structured programming academy1 year’s access to Huawei Mobile Innovation – DIGIX Lab’s offline space and online resources
Additionally, TusPark WHA will offer the following rewards for Top 10 selected startups:
Ranked 1st to 3rd:
Independent office (2 – 5 people team size), free of charge for 3 months
Global marketing promotion and brand exposure opportunity
2-year Eco-membership
Ranked 4th to 10th:
Open office space, free of charge for 3 months
2-year Eco-membership
For more information about the “Spark Ignite 2021 – Thailand Startup Competition”, log on to: huaweisparkthailand About the Huawei Spark Programme, log on to: sparkprogram
