Flywire, a leading financial technology (FinTech) business providing global payment and receivable solutions for education, healthcare, and commercial enterprises, has partnered with SP Jain School of Global Management for the first-of-its-kind start-up competition to power a new generation of transformative entrepreneurship in Singapore and the APAC region. This competition, which is set to launch this month, solidifies Flywire’s dedication to partnering with powerful regional universities, government bodies and industry, and investing in education and the start-up space, as well as their long-term relationships with international educational and healthcare institutions as a leading payments solutions provider.
As the winner of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) FinTech Awards in 2017, and as a part of its plans for continued growth within the APAC region, Flywire will use its monetary award from MAS to fuel the student- and graduate-led entrepreneurship competition. Bringing together the collective power of regional universities, diverse industries and regional government bodies, Flywire aims to bring international resources to students and the burgeoning start-up community in Singapore.
Flywire will host, sponsor and evaluate a contest — the Flywire Challenge — following an open call for teams to submit proposals for innovative start-up ideas. Any and all students and graduates, not limited to SP Jain students, will be invited to compete for three awards in the Health Technology, Education Technology, and Travel Technology sectors. Teams will be given the flexibility to create and present start-up proposals that address the three sectors, while incorporating Flywire’s payment solution as a way to power their ideas. Successful candidates will have access to prizes, which include cash awards, an opportunity to be entrepreneurs-in-residence at SP Jain’s Singapore campus, as well as mentorship from SP Jain staff, Flywire employees and other relevant university, government and industry mentors.
“With this initiative, we are able to harness the power of our MAS FinTech win to fuel the next generation of thought leaders and industry change-makers in Singapore and throughout APAC,” said Andrew Ong, Managing Director of Flywire APAC. “It was important to be able to pay it forward with a challenging and relevant programme that we hope will eventually produce the next innovative start-ups. It has been an amazing opportunity to be able to partner with the SP Jain School of Global Management and other institutions to be able to realise this vision, and to be able to dedicate ourselves to being supporters of education and the start-up space.”
Flywire has also partnered with esteemed and highly regarded establishments, government bodies and industry associations as sponsors and supporters of the start-up competition. This includes Griffith University, Kansai University and Singapore FinTech Association in Singapore– all of which will be able to provide guidance and support for competition candidates.
“We applaud the initiative by Flywire and SP Jain as this competition will expose students to the exciting world of entrepreneurship,” said Chia Hock Lai, President of Singapore FinTech Association. “We will continue to work with stakeholders to boost the FinTech ecosystem in Singapore, build connections and create more internship and placement opportunities with our member companies and partners, both locally and abroad, for the students.”
“The Flywire Challenge nicely complements the bilateral innovation partnership between Singapore and Australia, under our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, according to Australia’s High Commissioner to Singapore, HE Bruce Gosper. “As part of the CSP, we have set up an ASEAN Landing Pad in Singapore to support Australian start-ups to develop and commercialise their ideas into the region. We are also actively encouraging research partnerships — and our national science agency CSIRO has set up an office here in Singapore, with a view to taking Australian science into the region,” he said.
In the future, Flywire will also be launching a Flywire Scholarship for the one-year Global MBA programme at SP Jain. Three students will be awarded scholarships at SP Jain’s Singapore campus to learn the ins-and-outs of what it takes to be a global business-minded student, followed by an internship at Flywire’s APAC Headquarters.
“This collaboration between Flywire and SP Jain is one that will truly change students’ and graduates’ possibilities in the start-up scene. We recognise that nurturing the next generation of disruptors is one of utmost importance, and this competition will certainly propel them forward,” said Dr John Fong, CEO and Head of Campus of SP Jain Singapore. “We’re bringing international resources and support systems – with our mentorship programmes and access – to new heights.”
The call for competition submissions are now open. All submissions will be due by 10 July 2018. Finalists will be announced by 15 July 2018, with an additional one-on-one pitch day in front of a panel of judges including industry experts, Flywire judges and educators occurring on 26 July 2018. The awards will be announced on 17 August 2018.
To submit start-up ideas, please head to www.flywirechallenge.com/.