WHAT’S IN MY PORTFOLIO

Three years ago, my co-founder, Yi Ming Ng, and myself talked about the potential Blockchain technology has for creating solutions through its distributed ledger technology. We also noticed that promising start-ups and entrepreneurs could not secure the funding and regulatory support necessary to bring their ideas to life, due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of this nascent technology.

We created a Blockchain accelerator called Tribe with the aim of connecting Blockchain start-ups with corporations, governments, and investors. Importantly, we wanted to create an accelerator that was neutral and independent that is able to connect start-ups and their founders to funding and support based on their potential and ideas.

Today, Tribe is Singapore’s, and the worlds, first government supported Blockchain Accelerator, bringing together governments, corporations, and transnational institutions. It is also backed by leading organizations like Citibank, , BMW, Alibaba, IBM, PwC, AXA, WeBank, Accenture, EY, Ubisoft, Temasek, and Intel among others, as well as institutions like the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

I am proud of the solutions that have emerged from the start-ups we have backed. For example, our start-ups include SgCarMart Quotz, who leveraged Blockchain to help to improve transparency and accountability in the marketplace. MightyJaxx, a collectibles and art studio, also uses Blockchain to authenticate its art and collectibles in the second-hand market.

Blockchain is evolving fast, but one area that will create a bottleneck is in skills and talent development. One of the industry pain-points that Tribe is seeking to solve is the lack of Blockchain talent available at the moment, something that our partners have come to us to help address. We launched Tribe Academy, a digital programming school based on an innovative income share agreement that spreads the cost of education across education bodies, government, corporate enterprises, and start-ups. The initiative is being rolled out across Southeast Asia and aims to help underprivileged students in developing regions to secure access to high-quality education and gives them the best chance at quality employment.