NUS Innovation & Entrepreneurship @SOC

Last week, we went to iCube, the I&E startup incubator and spoke to Jovin Liew, who is a NUS undergraduate and also the co-founder of a startup, The Zone. Their startup developed a guided journaling app, which provides different sets of writing prompts that helps people journal better. It also provides sentiment analysis, which helps to track the mood and emotions of the users. The team has already successfully applied the Furnace program. In this article, Jovin will share with us his startup experience and story with SOC I&E program. How do you come up with the startup idea? The idea was conceived with my roommates when we were living out of a small apartment in California. One of my roommates, Muruges has been journaling every week for the past four years and he realized there is no good app that allows him to do this in a better way. Most people still use Evernote or other kinds of note taking apps but we believe that journaling is a lot more than that. There are ...

Today, we had the opportunity to interview Lim Jiho, founder of Mobbin,  a comprehensive library of the latest mobile design patterns from apps that reflect the best in design. Mobbin is currently used by over 70,000 designers and product people around the world, including those from design-mature companies such as Airbnb, Facebook, Twitter & Uber. Jiho started Mobbin in 2018 while he was in Year 3. Jiho shared with us how his start-up journey. 1.      Can you share with us how did you come about this idea for Mobbin? For the past three years, I have been designing mobile (iOS and Android) interfaces for clients as a freelance designer. Before designing for a product , the first thing that I would do is to conduct competitive analysis and create moodboard as part of UI/UX research. So basically I would check out the well-designed apps   from the App Store and take notes of how the apps worked and also the look and feel of them. But to...

SOC I&E is  an NUS SOC-based incubator that helps NUS students start their own companies by providing them with financial, technical and logistics support, comprehensive, professional and experienced mentorship, and extensive network connectivity with smart people in the ecosystem. At our web site, you will see vivid examples of student and faculty innovation. You can preview companies that are incubated at SoC, and see a list of diverse companies set up by staff and alumni. Various steps have been taken to promote innovation and to support faculty and students who wish to embark on an entrepreneurial track. These include: Awards for undergraduates with outstanding innovations Incubation facilities and support, including guidance and networking Exposure to industry specialists and entrepreneurs, particularly those working in regional and global markets, through seminars and workshops Targeted inclusion of adjunct faculty with entrepreneurial track records If...

I&E Practicum@SoC grant If you have an innovative idea for a startup venture, do apply for the I&E Practicum@SoC grant!  If awarded, you get a cool $10,000 to work on it further to determine if it can be turned into a real business. The grant is for one year and is intended for a small team.  While the applicant needs to be from SoC, other members of the team could be from other schools.  In fact, a team comprising students from different disciplines is encouraged.  A diverse team with complementary skills is a strong team. Eligibility: - The project must be carried out by the student applicant or team and not be part of a project initiated by a Company. - The main applicant must remain a student during the one-year duration of the grant. Applications will be assessed on the following criteria: Is there a competitive or differentiating edge to your innovation? Is there a sizable market and a clearly defined initial target market? Does th...