EY expands start-up incubator programme to Asean, goes virtual

PROFESSIONAL services firm EY has expanded its start-up incubator programme, which has gone virtual due to the pandemic, to cover more markets in South-east Asia and the Asia Pacific region, following successful runs in Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

"Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, EY Foundry has evolved into a virtually run programme which will leverage the EY global connectedness to bring greater collaboration opportunities to life - between start-ups, EY professionals and the supporting corporate community," the firm said in a release on Tuesday.

Up to 14 start-ups from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka may each be offered six months of participation in "high-growth EY activities" under the EY Foundry programme.

These activities include tailored learnings by EY subject matter professionals, as well as EY piloting sessions to better prepare start-up products to access the corporate community, it said.

The programme is focused on helping early-stage tech start-ups in the areas of tax, accounting, fintech, legal tech, regulatory tech, compliance tech and HR tech.

EY Foundry takes no equity in the start-ups and to further support the program's participants in building their technology, they will be given US$120,000 worth of Microsoft Azure credits, the company said.

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"From the experience of participants in the Singapore edition last year, we have observed that this program provides opportunities for start-ups to scale up, strengthen their business model and embark on their next stage of growth," said Amarjeet Singh, EY Asean tax leader and tax managing partner at Ernst & Young Tax Consultants.

Applications are open until November 6 at www.ey.com/eyfoundry, and successful applicants will be announced at a virtual launch event the same month.