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The nine-month incubation programme will be held at PayPal’s Singapore Technology Center, Suntec City

Global online payments company PayPal today announced the launching of its first fintech startup incubation programme in Singapore, and it has opened submission to the Pitch Fest event to select startups who will be joining the programme.

With aims to “develop and nurture the next generation of fintech startups,” the nine-month incubation programme will be held at a coworking space in PayPal’s Singapore Technology Center, Suntec City.

The submission will be open until May 25, while the Pitch Fest event will be held on June 2. The incubation period itself will be from June 6, 2016 to March 6, 2017.

According to a written statement, startup who passed the selection process will get access to talent within or outside of PayPal, access to funding through PayPal’s networks, coaching and mentorship by PayPal executives such as PayPal Asia Pacific’s General Manager of Technology Anupam Pahuja and external experts, a coworking space, and structured learning with industry experts.

“The curriculum will cover finance and technology topics such as risk, compliance, core payment network and channel partnering,” wrote the statement.

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To be eligible for the programme, applicants should follow these criteria:

1. A fintech or technology startup
2. Have a minimum viable product (MVP) and early trial with customers
3. Armed with seed stage funding
4. Based out of Singapore or willing to relocate startup to Singapore

During the Pitch Fest event, startups will be judged based on Team (technical capability, business background, commitment), Business Model and Market (scalability of the business, market size, barriers to entry), Technological Innovation (innovation of the technology, defensibility of technology, competitiveness), and Traction (early traction and market viability).

Participants will be judged by industry experts such as Kiren Kumar (Executive Director, Infocomms & Media Group, Singapore Economic Development Board); Leslie Loh (Managing Director, Red Dot Ventures); Genping Liu (Executive Director, Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd); Soma Ramasamy (VP, Strategy & Business Development, APAC, PayPal); Anupam Pahuja (GM, Technology for PayPal Asia Pacific).

Singapore is the second country in Asia Pacific to run the programme. In Chennai, India, PayPal’s Technology Center has been hosting it since 2013. The company claimed that most of its 10 startups had received funding or obtaining strategic exit upon graduation from the programme.

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Image Credit: Andy Beales on Unsplash

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