The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Enterprise Singapore has jointly launched Deal Fridays, an initiative that will match startups in the city-state with investors.
These curated deal-making sessions will run every Friday for 19 weeks, from June 21 to October 25. They will be organized based on sectors such as banking and finance, fintech, transport and mobility, and more.
Deal Fridays is meant to connect startups with potential investors that are keen to tie up with companies with new ideas and scalable business models in their fields. The idea is to limit the time that startups normally need to burn through while seeking new investors.
This initiative is part of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) x Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) event, which will be held in November.
MAS hopes to facilitate SGD 1 billion (USD 731.7 million) in capital investment and position Singapore as the place to raise global capital for startups, Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at MAS, said during the this week’s launch party for SFF x SWITCH.
Singapore wants to establish itself as an international startup node that, in particular, links up with the rest of Asia. To that end, it has implemented various initiatives to maintain its competitive edge. Previously, it announced the allocation of SGD 724 million to invest in various areas, including artificial intelligence and the creation of cell-based cultured meat.