The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is increasing its focus on Southeast Asia’s opportunities with two upcoming market access programmes to help Singapore start-ups make inroads into countries in the region.

Both iSTART@Thailand and iSTART@Indonesia will take place in the third week of November. The iSTART@Indonesia programme is organised around the Startup Asia Jakarta Conference, which is organised by Tech In Asia. There will also be follow up trips in January 2014 for both.

Launched in 2010, iSTART is a multi-pronged approach to help local start-ups expand and capture new markets beyond Singapore. This is being done through various efforts such as entrepreneurial education programmes, pitching events and consultation sessions with industry practitioners.

IDA also collaborates with international market accelerator partners to provide bootcamps, mentorships, business meetings, and networking sessions for start-ups to enhance their knowledge of market dynamics, build market entry strategies and connect with key individuals to increase market access. Countries are selected based on growth opportunities for infocomm companies, interest from the start-up community, and the strength of IDA’s connections into those markets.

For the Thai market, for example, there are opportunities for Singapore start-ups in the online business and e-learning space, said Expara Pte Ltd, whom IDA is partnering to organise the iSTART@Thailand programme.

Expara noted that online business providers are still lacking in Thailand even though 80 per cent of Thai consumers make the Internet their first stop when shopping. There is a significant gap in this space for Singapore companies to come in to fulfil, especially in the mobile payment space and customer analytics.

There are also opportunities for e-learning providers to grow their business in the country, given the current lack of online education materials, and the government’s announcement of a deal to purchase 400,000 tablets, with interest for another 530,000, for its “One Tablet PC per Child” campaign.

Other areas of opportunity for Singapore companies include personal healthcare and well-being applications, as well as mobile debit card banking services.

For iSTART@Indonesia, the focus will be on consumer infocomm start-ups which have developed products in areas such as mobile, gaming, web apps and social media, digital media and advertising and ecommerce. Participating companies will also get the opportunity to attend the Startup Asia Jakarta conference from 21-22 November and meet with the conference speakers.

Participating companies would need to make at least two trips to these respective markets.  For Phase 1 of the iSTART programme in November, the participating start-ups will be matched with in-market mentors, who will provide one-to-one consultations to develop a go-to-market strategy for the respective markets. Meetings with potential customers, investors and partners will also be arranged. The companies will also undergo workshops on the basics of market entry; legal, finance and tax issues; fine-tuning business models for the market; and the market dynamics of various IT verticals. They will then return to Singapore to refine their products and business models.

Under Phase 2 in January, the companies will return to the respective countries for further market engagement. They will attend follow-up meetings with potential customers, resellers, partners and investors.

Since the launch of iSTART, some 80 companies have participated in programmes to countries such as the United States (Silicon Valley), China, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam. Many have gone on to establish partnerships, increase market awareness for their products and services, launch pilot projects or close sales, and secure investments.

Earlier this year, for example, e-commerce platform provider Soldgers teamed up with Manila-based IP Ventures to launch an innovative auction web site offering the latest game titles and gaming gear in the Philippines. The partnership was seeded when Soldgers participated in the iSTART@Philippines programme in January. Complementary strengths – Soldgers’ technology platform and IP Ventures’ local expertise and products – led to the swift roll out of the Gamers.PH web site in July.