Before leaving for Santa Clara to attend TiEcon 2016, I met many of the startups at a practice pitch at IE Singapore, put on by TiE Singapore and SPRING Singapore.
One such company was Innovation of Thingz, a hot Singapore-based technology startup. Started by entering a hackathon in 2012 in which they created a parking reservation system (they won, BTW), they developed “SurePark”, their Internet-of-things (IOT)-based smart parking platform for smart cities and smart buildings. Fast forward to last month, and they became one of only 70 companies (out of over 2,000) to be a recent recipient of the prestigious TiE50 Technology Awards Program.
The following is a follow-up with Suchet Bhasin, their VP of Product Strategy.
How did you prepare for the TiE Conference Award?
We were selected by TIE Singapore to take part at the Global TiE event. Introducing “Surepark” to global customers and investors was a great opportunity. The support we received from TiE Singapore to coach us was useful and the formal pitching session to IE Singapore helped build confidence and prepared us psychologically for the Silicon Valley event. Guidance from the organizers was helpful.
What have you learnt from TiE Singapore Chapter?
Apart from the workshop and guidance we got, we now feel like an integral part of TIE Singapore. We got to know other members and other entrepreneurs, which serves to enhance our local support system and network.
What did you learn from TiE Conference 2016?
The opportunity to meet a lot of start-up veterans, hear new ideas, share knowledge and networking was a great learning experience. We’re still absorbing it all and following up on our initial relationships made at TiECon. I would say we managed to make a year’s worth of connections in a couple of days.
Most importantly we found that there is a need for a parking solution in US cities. People their immediately understood the value of SurePark in a US context. We also met some more people developing parking solutions who were happy to share their approaches and challenges they faced. Information that will help us avoid the pitfalls they encountered. So you see, very productive discussions. We hope to return to Silicon Valley and build on our conversations.
How will winning this award change your startup history?
It has certainly enhanced our approach to the business and been a morale booster. We hope this translates into business success. As a company we wish to offer solutions that make life easier in a complex technological world
Other things you’d like to add?
The award has put us, along with Singapore on the radar. People who walked by the Singapore company exhibits were impressed by the number of start-ups that were present from the red dot. We hope this helps to change the Singaporean start-up history!
For more information about SurePark, please http://www.surepark.asia/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPUqTroE3g.
For information about Turning Gen Y On, my recently-published book to help leaders overcome workplace challenges with their Gen Y staff, please see http://tgyo.asia/.
