IGNITE Awards 2014

 

IGNITE awards 2014  

After an intense journey through the annual iCentre IGNITE Entrepreneurship Challenge, winners of the challenge are now ready to embark on their entrepreneurship journey to contribute towards redefining the economic environment of Brunei Darussalam.

At the IGNITE Entrepreneurship Challenge Awards showcase yesterday, Berkshire Hall, Jerudong Royal Polo Club, Director of KR Consulting and NUS Enterprise Brian Koh said the challenge aims to provide a learning and experiential journey in developing a technology business venture.

The director highlighted the significant increase in submissions in the open category, with the challenge receiving a total of 159 submissions this year.

“The IGNITE Entrepreneurship Challenge is the starting point of the entrepreneurship journey, and at the iCentre, we will continue to assist founders with great passion to develop best of breed solutions for both the local and overseas markets” said the director adding that the iCentre would provide further assistance in developing ideas of participants that did not proceed to the final rounds.

The iCentre in the beginning of the participant’s entrepreneurship journey organised a series of workshops and forums, focusing on ‘Ideation’ and emerging trends in the ‘Internet of Things’. These were opportunities provided to participants to equip them with insights to better develop their ideas and products geared towards assisting in the development of a comprehensive business plans for submissions said the director.

Sitting down: Haji Minorhadi Haji Mirhassan, BIBD, Queh Ser Pheng, AITI, Dr Haji And Manaf Hji Metussin, BEDB, Dato Paduka Haji Ali Apong, Deputy Minister at Prime Minister’s Office, Chairman of BEDB, Brian Koh, NUS SIngapore, Muhammad Nurshafiee, EGNC and Daniel Leong, BEDB. Image courtesy of Raul Padernal

In a keynote address referring to the steady growth of Brunei’s upcoming entrepreneurs in the creative industry toward Brunei Darussalam’s Vision 2035, Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Awang Haji Ali Bin Haji Apong, Deputy Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Chairman of the Brunei Economic Development Board in his keynote address said, “The growth of the ICT industry can contribute towards the achievement of Brunei’s Vision 2035 to create a dynamic and sustainable economy of highly skilled and well educated people”.

The Deputy Minister highlighted in a titah by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, in conjunction with the 26th Convocation at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, His Majesty encouraged students to change their mindsets and to be more proactive instead of waiting for jobs, and called upon the education sector to assist the development of research and innovation in the field of entrepreneurship that can contribute to economic growth. Earlier in the year, His Majesty in a Titah highlighted the need for economic growth at a rate of five to six percent per annum, which will increase the national income from $20 billion today to $80 billion by 2035.

The deputy minister further highlighted for youths to look into entrepreneurship as an alternative employment opportunity to contribute to the nation’s economic development.

In a briefing on the process of the final judging round of the challenge, Chief Adjudicator Md Norshafiee Bin Dato Paduka Hj Jalil, Director of the E-Government National Committee said the panel of judges had to deliberate extensively and identifying the winners was challenging because the quality of submissions were very high overall.

The chief adjudicator highlighted the growth of the business plan challenge over the years and praised the challenge as a great opportunity for youths to pursue their ideas and turn them into businesses.

Executive summaries in the earlier round of the challenge was carried out by a selection of judges from industry partners stakeholders. This included from AITI, BEDB and BIBD and many more. From a 159 executive summaries, a total of 41 entries were chosen to proceed to the semi-final round through submission of a full business plan and pitching to final judges. With twelve finalists, yesterday’s award showcase announced the top six participants.

 

Team YouBusk, Winner of International Award with Brian Koh, Director of KR Consulting.

In the college and university category the students from Institute Teknologi Brunei (ITB) with their project entitled ‘ITB Smart Shower’ claimed victory, with the first runner up went to Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) team NKB ‘Do Tour’ with the second runner up awarded to another ITB team ‘IntelCar Technology’.

In the Open Category, first place was awarded to the two member team Tyne Solutions with their project ‘Pillars’. First place runner up was awarded to a team with their project entitled ‘Uplife’. With so many great ideas, the final panel judges had a very difficult time in awarding the second runner up prize. Lastly, due to the passion and the market opportunity shown in all groups – two teams were awarded the second runner up spot.

The teams awarded for the joint prize with their products ‘Tasche’ and Lighthouse Ideasfarm.The international category was awarded to Singapore based startup ‘YouBusk’.

 

List of winners An attractive cash prize totaling $57,000 was offered across three categories, the first prize in the Open Category was $20,000, the second prize was $10,000 and the third prize was $5,000. AITI and BIBD supported the Challenge in its entirety.

With a tagline ‘Your journey begins now’, the IGNITE Entrepreneurship Challenge was launched on the August 26th this year. Ignite has entered into its seventh run and is an annual event organized by the iCentre and supported by the Brunei Economic Development Board which serves as a platform for identifying, nurturing and showcasing emerging entrepreneurs.