Innovative ideas take flight at inaugural P.A.K. Entrepreneurs’ Challenge

The inaugural P.A.K. Entrepreneurs’ Challenge 2016 came to a successful conclusion on 13 May 2016 with 4 winners walking away with a total of $45,000 to further develop their innovative ideas.

The event was graced by Dean of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB) Professor Gerry George, and Guest-of-Honour Mr Edmund Lin, Partner & Director at Bain & Company and a member of SMU Board of Trustees.

The Challenge, organized by Eagles Inc, an entrepreneurship club at LKCSB, sought to discover the most validated and executable business ideas.

The club and the competition were the result of a donation by LKCSB alumni Jeff Tung Chi Fung and Benjamin Twoon Wai Mun who set up a $1 million P.A.K. Entrepreneurship Fund in October 2015 to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit amongst SMU students and to support the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in SMU. In addition, the gift was an expression of support to SMU by Jeff and Benjamin by giving back to their alma-mater and to inspire other alumni to do the same.

Leading up to the competition, Eagles Inc organized a bootcamp and four ideation workshops involving 22 mentors. 10 teams were awarded $5,000 each to create their Minimum Viable Products in preparation for the finals.

Eagles Inc secured a total of 6 partners and 8 sponsors for the competition. They included Reactor, which assisted in crafting the rubrics of the competition, and Fundnel, which contributed their expertise from the crowd equity funding platform to support the voting segment for the qualifying rounds. To implement the Shark Tank format (i.e. aspiring entrepreneur make business presentations to a panel of "shark" investors, who then choose whether or not to invest), the organisers clinched a sponsorship deal with Createurs Productions to assist with video production pre and post-event. Corporates such as KPMG, SPH Plug and Play and DBS joined as partners to serve as judges for the event.

The interesting format of the competition meant that the judges had the choice to decide how much they believe each team was valued at. The 8 finalist teams  presented their pitch for 5 minutes each followed by 5 minutes of Question & Answer with the judges.

The judging panel comprised of Benjamin Twoon, Managing Director of Fundnel Limited, Jeff Tung, Founder of Sheng Yu Financial Group, Rudy Lim, Investment Manager & Head of Accelerator of SPH Media Fund, Jan Reinmueller, Principal Head of Innovation Ventures at KPMG, and Carmen Yuen, Investment Management, Vertex Venture Management Pte Ltd.

Four teams eventually won the heart of the judges:

·       Team Homage, which won $15,500, provides a trusted marketplace for home caregivers.

·       Team Flying Chalks, which won $15,000, aims to enhance the overseas studies experience for all tertiary students worldwide through a revolutionary one-stop platform.

·       Team Heartland Chefs, which won $14,000, offers a platform for people to buy and sell home cooked food within their neighbourhood.

·       Team Jobber, which won $500, is a marketplace for people to list, search, and apply for ad hoc jobs that fit their schedule - from their mobile devices.

In addition, Team Homage was also awarded five tickets to Echelon Asia Summit 2016 organised by e27; while the most popular team, Team Jobber, won a one-year web hosting by Vodien.

Tong Nhat Duong from Team Homage said, “The competition has been a great platform for aspiring entrepreneurs to develop their products, as well as test and validate their ideas and business models. This is definitely a must for anyone who wants to become a student entrepreneur.”

Guests and participants who attended the event can now look forward to the post-event production of a series of SMU “Shark Tank” episodes which is expected to be launched in July 2016.

[Photo: Melvin Lee Hong Wee (left, 4th year, Lee Kong Chian School of Business) from Team Flying Chalks received $15,000 cash prize from Benjamin Twoon for their idea to enhance the overseas studies experience for all tertiary students worldwide through a revolutionary one-stop platform.]

[Photo: Team Heartland Chefs won $14,000 to fund their idea to bring home cooked food to people. Receiving the cash prize from LKCSB Dean Prof Gerry George were Phar Viet Hai (left, 4th year, School of Accountancy) and Ow Chuen Poo (centre, 4th year, School of Accountancy).]

[Photo: Team Jobber’s Joseph Teo Chi Che (3rd year, Lee Kong Chian School of Business) received $500 from Prof Gerry George to support their startup.]

[Featured photo: Team Homage was the biggest winner at the competition. Besides the cash prize of $15,500, they also won five tickets to Echelon Asia Summit 2016 organised by e27. Seen here is Tong Nhat Duong (left, 4th year, School of Information Systems) receiving the cash prize from Jeff Tung.