Singapore, 11 April 2015 (Saturday) – The third edition of the Youth Innovation Challenge, organised by the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at SMU (IIE), came to a successful conclusion today with Anglican High School and NUS High School emerging tops in their respective categories.

Launched in 2013, the Youth Innovation Challenge was organised and designed by IIE as a means of encouraging an innovative mindset among students from secondary schools and junior colleges.  The Ministry of Education was consulted on the format and the content of the competition. This annual contest is open to all secondary schools, ITE and junior colleges in Singapore.

This year, a total of 80 teams from 32 schools participated in the competition, a marked increase from 33 teams from 10 schools in 2013, and 77 teams from 19 schools last year.

Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of IIE, said “This competition serves as a platform for innovators of tomorrow to showcase their entrepreneurial talents and business plans, as well as to widen their network of contacts with fellow participants who are like-minded and creative.

“We are pleased to note that the competition has gained traction among the secondary schools, junior colleges and ITE in Singapore, as evidenced by the increasing participation rate over the years. This shows that the schools are aware of the importance of nurturing innovators and entrepreneurs from a young age by exposing students to relevant concepts and best practices through competitions, while the students themselves are also willing to put their heads together to come up with new ideas and creative solutions. Hopefully, this will encourage more of them to embark on their entrepreneurship journey.”

Secondary schools participating in this year’s competition were grouped into one category, while junior colleges, centralised institute and ITE were grouped into another category.

Participating teams submitted their 3000-word business plan summary by 6 February 2015. A boot camp was conducted on 18 March 2015 for the 12 semi-finalists from each category. Each team was assigned a business mentor to improve their business ideas for the semi-final round that was held on 10 April 2015. Six teams from each category progressed to the finals today.

The judging panel comprised of Dr Miles Gilman, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at IIE, Mr Ronnie Wee, Founder and Managing Partner of Incuvest, and Mr Uday Deshpande, Co-founder of Tenshi Peak.

The finalists for each category were judged on their business plan’s market fit, market potential, unique selling points, financials and operational plan.

In the Secondary Schools category, Team AHZIP from Anglican High School emerged as champions and walked away with $4000. Team Vexistence from Ngee Ann Secondary School and Team Alpha from Crescent Girls' School claimed the first (cash prize of $2000) and second runner-up (cash prize of $1000) positions respectively.

The other three finalists were My First Bottle from Nanyang Girls' High School, Team CrezInnov from Crescent Girls' School, and Team GESS E-Club from Gan Eng Seng School.

[Photo: Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, presented the prize to Team RevUP from NUS High School, which emerged top in the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category at the Youth Innovation Challenge.]

For the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category, Team RevUP from NUS High School clinched the top position and took home $7000. Team Tempus from Hwa Chong Institution and Team Sharpener from River Valley High School claimed the first (cash prize of $3000) and second runner-up (cash prize of $1500) positions respectively.

The other three finalists were Team Crescendo from Victoria Junior College, Team Ideal Gas from National Junior College, and Team Sync from St Andrew's Junior College.

In addition, IE Singapore sponsored a special prize called the IE Internationalisation Award based on a team’s market insights and internationalisation strategy. Team Vexistence from Ngee Ann Secondary School won the award (cash prize of $700) in the Secondary School category, while Team Sync from St Andrew's Junior College did the same (cash prize of $1000) for the Junior College, Centralised Institute and ITE category.

SMU extends its heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the third edition of the Youth Innovation Challenge and looks forward to greater participation by more secondary schools and junior colleges for next year’s competition.

[Featured photo: Professor Arcot Desai Narasimhalu, Director of SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, presented the prize to Team AHZIP from Anglican High School, which emerged top in the Secondary Schools category at the Youth Innovation Challenge.]

For more information, please contact:

Teo Chang Ching (Mr)

Assistant Director, Corporate Communications

Office of Corporate Communications & Marketing

DID: 6828 0451

Email: ccteo [at] smu.edu.sg