2012 News

• [30 April 2012]
  Hello Stranger, want to have a crazy picture taken?
  SMU undergraduate Gay Zheng Cai is a co-owner of the photo booth service company Hello Stranger. Together with his business partner, they said that the mentorship of Mr George Han, of SMU's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has been pivotal in the progress of their start-up business.
  
  
• [23 April 2012]
  Online platform to reach out to customers
  Gspot, an online marketing platform which allows companies to propagate branding through the viral effect of social networks, is the brainchild of Team Galaktikos, co-founded by Kent Hoie, along with his collaborators John Kueh, Timothy Ee and Toh Chen Lim. Galaktikos is currently incubated under the SMU's Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE), and the team is grateful for the support provided. Said Mr Hoie: "There are a lot of tech start-ups in IIE, so there is that ecosystem, that support from the environment. Being in school is another advantage because we get to mix with people who are our potential clients or customers."
  
  
• [21 April 2012]
  “Ambushing” commuters for a smile
  Project Hello Stranger volunteers try to bring back the kampung spirit. Motorists and train commuters have recently been 'ambushed' by volunteers in a bid to make Singapore a friendlier and happier place. The volunteers are part of a movement called Project Hello Stranger, co-founded in February by recent Singapore Management University graduates Tham Yining, 23, and Valerie Ong, 22. It banks on guerilla street campaigns and social media to bring smiles to people's faces.
  
  
• [13 April 2012]
  Project Hello Stranger
  Initiated by SMU student Valerie Ong Si Hui and recent SMU graduate Tham Yining, the voluntary movement named Project Hello Stranger is aimed at spreading the spirit of love and giving among people in Singapore. Their recent activities include a Happy and I Honk It! movement and a High five! activity at Raffles Place which was featured in The Straits Times.
  
  
• [13 April 2012]
  On the road less travelled
  SMU Alumnus, John Tham and his business partner Nicole Lim are the owners of a relatively young business, Traveller International, offering tours to off-the-beaten track destinations. Though the duo may not be earning as much as their fellow graduands, they say their compensation comes in the form of seeing their company progress and grow.
  
  
• [13 April 2012]
  The Cage launches new iPhone app created by SMU students
  A new iPhone app created by SMU students will allow football enthusiasts to book and pay for time slots at The Cage, one of Singapore’s most well-known futsal facilities. The app was devised by a group of six students from the SMU School of Information Systems - Choo Chew Peng, John Goh, Joel Lee, Edward Lay, Loo Wei Yi and Linda Bay - for their final year project.
  
  
• [2 April 2012]
  Not all fun and games for app developer
  Many Gen-Y video game aficionados have sweet memories of hand-held games like the Pokemon series, or even the black-and-white Tamagotchi. This reliving of childhood nostalgia is what pushed 27-year-old [SMU alumnus] Sam Yong Zhi to craft PetMonster, a hand-held game harking back to those good old days, but in a renewed incarnation – the smartphone application.
  
  
• [19 March 2012]
  The joy of speaking and coaching
  The dream of banking on a stroke of inspiration to achieve spectacular success is one which sits well with many youth entrepreneur. This, however, was not what drove 25-year-old Benjamin Loh's start-up, Speaker's Flare Training and Consultancy.
  
  
• [17 March 2012]
  Why everyone’s buzzing about startups in Singapore
  At South By Southwest Interactive, we caught up with three entrepreneurs who have chosen Singapore as the geographical launch pad for their startups.
  
  
• [7 March 2012]
  Art of the pitch: Six minutes to change your life
  178 start-ups auditioned with 90-second to six-minute pitches with the hope of winning US$20,000 at DEMO Asia 2012. One such startup was Sage.by, a DAMO alumni startup formed last August by four students at SMU with the idea of Cab4free, which provides users a platform to monetise their time by completing mobile surveys in exchange for free taxi rides.
  
  
• [27 February 2012]
  The right blend of service and business
  From weddings to desserts, education to smoothies. Adeline Tan has dabbled in a good range of businesses. While an onlooker may find little in common between her many business ventures, Ms Tan sees in them the common thread of "service concierges".
  
  
• [13 February 2012]
  Win-win partnerships in tourism
  Who WHO would be so crazy to spend New Year's eve waiting to be the first to register their company?" mused Chiang Zhan Xiang, founder of Travelmania. Apparently, 16 other companies beat him to it in 201 0, but that did not stop this jovial entrepreneur's success.
  
  
• [6 February 2012]
  How not to lose your things ever
  Contrary to George Bernard Shaw's belief that "youth is wasted on the young", Rick Tan, 25, has wasted no time leaving his imprint on Singapore's technopreneurship scene. The co-founder of Innova Technology, who is three months away from completing his finance and marketing degree at the Singapore Management University (SMU), had his first taste of entrepreneurship at 18.
  
  
• [23 January 2012]
  Great Leap forward reaps dividends
  When SMU was set up in 2000, an aspect of our mission statement is to produce a new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. Fast forward to year 2012 and eight batches of graduates later, we are delighted to provide an update on how some of our graduate entrepreneurs are doing.
  
  
• [16 January 2012]
  Blazing a Trail in Asia for the Tech Community
  Technology blogger and entrepreneur Willis Wee may be fresh out of university but he is no stranger to busines. He had his first taste of entrepreneurship at the age of 10. when he ran a business selling insects like grasshoppers and spiders with his brother.
  
  
• [5 January 2012]
  SMU-IIE incubated companies has been featured on TechBuzz and CNET’s technology blog
  Anti Loss device for the careless
  Tech Buzz back in fashion
  Innova Technology has developed anti-Loss (aL), which is basically a Bluetooth smart card. Due to its thin and small form factor (similar to two credit cards stacked together), you can place aL in your wallet, bag, passport cover or anywhere you fancy.
  
  
• [2 January 2012]
  Recruitment Portal for cost-conscious employers.
  Echoing the calls for "cheaper, better, faster" workers, HR solutions start-up Quantine is offering an online recruitment platform which it thinks will help employers hire "better, faster, stronger".