Co-founder of Australian venture capital firm CapitalPitch, Jeremy Liddle, has left his company and signed a memorandum of understanding with the intention of launching Singularity University’s (SU) flagship Global Startup Program (GSP) in the Asia Pacific region (APAC).
Co-founded by globally-renowned technologists and entrepreneurs Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis, SU is a global community with a mission to educate, inspire, and empower leaders to apply exponential technologies to help solve humanity’s global grand challenges at the billion-person scale.
Since 2008, the Global Startup Program has catapulted more than 1,167 impact innovations and moonshot companies in 45 countries.
What does this program mean for the regional startup ecosystem?
SU CEO and Associate Founder Rob Nail believes investing in and supporting the APAC region will have a significant global impact due to its sheer population size.
“The Asia Pacific region is the most populous and fastest-growing middle class in the world, meaning technology adoption in this region could drive exponential growth and deliver a positive impact on human development for billions of people,” said Nail.
Vice President of SU Ventures Monique Giggy elaborated on how the GSP will serve APAC, “Startups from the APAC region will leverage the global network of SU investors, faculty, and alumni from 142 SU Chapters in 66 countries, including our home campus in Silicon Valley.
“We’re excited to work with Jeremy and SU alumni across the region to discover the solutions that will shape the future of our planet using exponential technologies.”
What do the startups gain from this program?
This first-ever APAC-based GSP will enable startups with at least two years of operation and demonstrated product-market fit to better leverage new exponential technologies.
Programming will include in-person training in Singapore with SU’s international faculty, on-campus training at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, and online support and resources delivered via the SU digital platform for 12 months.
To date, the GSP has served delegations from UNICEF and the World Food Programme, and has played a major role in scaling companies such as ImpactVision, Matternet, Iris.ai, and Deep Blocks.
Eighty-eight percent of GSP startups that become portfolio companies successfully raise funding, with over $312 million raised so far. Seventy percent of GSP startup founders/co-founders have been female.
Unlike typical accelerators, GSP aims to scale startups into global businesses and empowers them to solve the world’s biggest challenges and impact the lives of a billion people.
What does Mr. Liddle bring to the table?
Mr. Liddle was selected to launch this APAC-based GSP ecosystem due to his experience and relationships across venture capital, startup advisory, and international organisations, including the United Nations and G20.
“My ambition has always been to apply my experience and expertise on a global scale by investing in founders who are building the jobs and industries of the future and driving humanity forward,” said Mr. Liddle.
“It’s been an extremely rewarding five years founding and growing CapitalPitch together with a first-class team of staff, investors, startups, and advisors.
“However, I’m now excited for this next chapter scaling impact-focused startups and connecting impact investing with above-market commercial returns across APAC.”
Before leaving CapitalPitch, Liddle oversaw investments in companies such as Oovvuu, Phoria, and Umano.
