BRIDGING BRAINS
Singapore’s first innovation club leverages on high-powered members.
Singapore’s first innovation club leverages on high-powered members.
New business club Spectrum pegs itself as a innovation business club that wants to bring together individuals and businesses from various sectors to build an ecosystem that thrives on disruption. Aside from claiming to be the first of its kind in Singapore, what makes Spectrum special? At the club’s press conference, one man declared: “Me.”
That man is billionaire and serial entrepreneur Taizo Son, founder and CEO of start-up hub Mistletoe and video game company Gungho Online, which created the massively popular Puzzle & Dragons app. You may also know him as the younger brother of Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank Corp. The thinking is – now that Taizo Son, who moved to Singapore last April, is based at Spectrum in Duo Tower, he can share his extensive experience and network.
And he’s far from the only raging success story that’s helping to run the club. Its co-founders are Cheryl Lee (pictured, right), a former banker whose accomplishments include building lifestyle venture 1-Rochester Group, and Shirley Chua, CEO of Golden Equator. The latter is a group of Singapore-founded companies covering finance, consultancy and technology.
Says Chua: “Our current members are unique in their own way and disruptive in nature, which is in line with our aim to create a forwardthinking business club.”
Current members include Mistletoe, blockchain consultant Jenga Solutions, South Korean governmentlinked health-care incubator C&R
Healthcare Global, and Asia’s leading e-payment provider MC Payment, to name a few.
A notable member joining them this year is Blockcelerate, which comprises a team of experts that help accelerate the tokenisation of businesses through mentorships that hopefully lead them to a successful Initial Coin Offering.
“In our view, they will disrupt the future of fund-raising, and these are the kind of members we have access to and will continue to add to the ecosystem,” says Lee.
Members will have access to a digital platform that will connect them to other members and view content, investment opportunities, payment systems and the like. Spectrum also regularly holds events such as learning sessions, thought-leadership discussions and showcases of new technologies. The annual membership fee starts from $360 a month.