“I first thought about an online platform to connect vessel sellers with buyers for direct sale or rental, sometime last year when I was in shipbroking. I wondered why there wasn’t an easier way for vessel buyers to connect to sellers and decided that I should try turning the idea into a reality. By working together with Timothy, we have developed a well thought-out product and subsequently decided to call our platform MarineNexus.Com,” said Mr Eric Chean Yu Fei from the School of Accountancy on how he came up with the idea of creating a vessel trading platform for the SICC–SMU SG50 Eureka! Prize business innovation competition.

Together with team mate Mr Timothy Ong Tze Yhi from the School of Economics, Team Marine Nexus emerged as one of two winners of the competition.

The other winner was Team Homage, made up of Mr Tong Nhat Duong (School of Information Systems), Ms Nguyen Ngoc Tuyet Ngan and Mr Tran Binh Minh (both from SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business). The team designed a platform for the provision of homecare services.

The two winning teams were each presented with $20,000 for prototype development and proof of concept testing by Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) Chief Executive Victor Mills at a prize presentation ceremony on 13 November 2015.

[Caption: SICC Chief Executive Victor Mills (extreme right) presented the prize to Team Marine Nexus.]

The competition, sponsored by SICC and organised by SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) to celebrate Singapore’s 50^th anniversary, was the first collaboration of its kind between SICC and a university. The aim was to generate innovative business ideas with commercial potential. The competition was open to all current undergraduate and postgraduate students of SMU.

In his speech, Mr Victor Mills commented, “The Chamber knows that sustainability is all about adaptability and that innovation is essential to achieve adaptability and growth. Singapore has innovated throughout its history and especially since independence. Celebrating innovation in SG50 is particularly apposite and relevant. On behalf of all the members of SICC, I offer my congratulations to the winning and participating teams for exhibiting practical innovation. I also extend my sincere thanks to all the judges and to Team SMU for its tremendous help and support in organising the competition.”

SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer said, “We are very pleased to organise this meaningful competition with SICC, and would like to thank all participating teams for making this competition a success. Many of the business plans we received were creative, well-conceived, and made good business sense, showing a high level of maturity and good industry knowledge. We are particularly delighted to note that many teams were made up of members from different Schools, which bring with them multi-disciplinary approaches to their ideation and product development process.”

President De Meyer also shared the lessons he had learned from his involvement in six start-ups. These include: cash is king; the importance of having a support network comprising fellow entrepreneurs; and that past success is no guarantee of future success. He also noted the important role of competitions, which serve to encourage some students to take a step further to think about markets, financing and operations, so as to transform an idea or dream into reality.

Ms Dawn Tan, Founding Director, Adtvance Law LLC, and a member of the judging panel said, “The winning teams, Homage and Marine Nexus, bring to the table fresh ideas which are innovative, commercially viable and clearly executable. In the case of Homage, bringing together home care providers and consumers in a win-win formula for both also fills a pressing social need, namely, providing accessible care solutions for the increasing numbers of aged people. In the case of Marine Nexus, bringing together vessel owners, charterers and brokers brings a breath of fresh air to time-honoured ways of doing business in that industry and opens new possibilities for smaller players.”

The online platform created by Team Marine Nexus connects buyers and sellers of marine crafts. Buyers or charterers of assets would be able to use the site, without charge, to search for assets of their choice and connect directly with the ship-broker or ship-owner providing the asset. Viewers can use the site, also without charge, while listing of assets will require a subscription to be paid.

[Caption: SICC Chief Executive Victor Mills (extreme right) presented the prize to Team Homage.]

For Team Homage, their platform uses a proprietary matching engine that pairs the elderly with the best care professionals for their needs in real-time. Family members can schedule, manage, and monitor care visits through Homage family app from anywhere, stay in communication with the care professional and get real-time information on the care their elderly relative is receiving. Homage app allows family members to know who visited their loved ones, how long they spent in the house, and what activities they did. For care professionals, Homage app provides them with better client information, such as a care plan individualised to each elderly person, helpful tips, and ease of communication with the family members.

Many creative ideas were conceived by the 28 teams which participated in the competition, from a one-stop, easy-to-use online celebration planner, to a hybrid tool that incorporates both education and parental control to combat childhood smartphone/device addiction.

Participating teams had a month to work on their business ideas. 10 teams were shortlisted for the semi-finals, and 5 teams were selected for the finals on 3 November 2015.

The judging criteria were: innovativeness of the business Idea, commercial feasibility, potential market opportunity, capability to execute, team composition, IP strategy and value created.

Mr Tong Nhat Duong of Team Homage said, “Through this competition, I have learnt a great deal about how to pitch a business idea in the most convincing and succinct way. Based on the feedback and comments from the judges, I found that it is especially critical to demonstrate the pain points that the customers experience and the total addressable market size.

“Our next steps are to reach out to our first 100 clients and continue to develop our technology. In addition, we will accelerate our process of refining and scaling our customer acquisition, infrastructure and marketing effort,” he added.  

[Featured photo: SMU President Prof Arnoud De Meyer (in yellow tie) with (to his left) SICC Chief Executive Victor Mills, IIE Director Prof Desai (third from right), members of the judging panel and the two winning teams at the SICC–SMU SG50 Eureka! Prize awards presentation ceremony.]