Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and Google Cloud announced joint initiatives aimed at accelerating AI adoption and innovation for organisations in Singapore. These initiatives will enable the next wave of globally-oriented, high-growth startups to build and launch their own proprietary AI products, and empower more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to embrace AI to boost workforce proficiency and productivity.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong was Guest-of-Honor at AI First, an event hosted at the Google Asia Pacific headquarters to showcase the first cohort of startup graduates from Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore, and to unveil new AI initiatives under the ongoing strategic collaboration between the Singapore Government and Google Cloud.
“AI is a key driver of the Singapore economy, and it is critical for organisations of all sizes to embrace and deepen their use of AI to grow their businesses. The initiatives unveiled today at Google Cloud’s AI First event aim to advance AI adoption for startups and SMEs,” said Mr Gan Kim Yong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry.
“Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore supports the growth of AI-oriented startups based in Singapore, and SMEs can leverage the Gemini for Google Workspace Program (SMEs) to kickstart their AI journeys and boost productivity. These initiatives demonstrate how public-private collaborations with technology leaders like Google Cloud can accelerate AI adoption and advance our National AI Strategy goals.”
Helping startups develop proprietary AI innovations and scale to new markets
The inaugural cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore, which ran from April to August 2024, comprises 25 globally-oriented, early-stage startups. Selected from hundreds of applicants, these startups include Atlas, Cosmos Innovation, Eezee, Kookree, Lytehouse, and Transparently.AI, and represent a diverse range of sectors, such as adtech, ecommerce, fintech, HR tech, media and entertainment, restaurant tech, software development and IT, supply chain tech, and climate tech.
Utilising best-in-class technologies and resources provided by the public-private startup program, participating startups built and launched proprietary AI products that address business challenges and unlock future growth opportunities.
Examples of these AI products include innovations aimed at detecting and preventing accounting fraud; increasing solar power capacity; reducing food waste and ensuring food safety; reinforcing public safety; boosting the creator economy; and enhancing the productivity of SMEs.
Four AI startups – Kookree, Lytehouse, Staple, and UI-licious – were expediently assessed through the program and awarded additional support by EnterpriseSG under the Startup SG Tech scheme. The Startup SG Tech scheme fast-tracks the development and commercialization of proprietary technology solutions by startups.
Building on the program’s success, EnterpriseSG and Google Cloud announced that applications for its second cohort are now open. The three-month program, scheduled to begin February 2025, will be expanded to accept 35 startups. To fast-track their development and commercialisation of proprietary AI products, selected applicants will be able to tap on an enhanced suite of technology capabilities and resources, which include:
- Up to US$350,000 in Google Cloud credits upon graduation from the program.
- Access to Google Cloud’s powerful, fully integrated and optimised AI stack for up to three months, through a dedicated innovation sandbox environment, supported by EnterpriseSG.
- Mentorship and technical project support from Google Cloud’s product development teams, AI engineers, and startup ecosystem network partners.
- The opportunity to showcase their achievements and connect with potential investors and corporate customers at a Demo Day organised by EnterpriseSG and Google Cloud.
- Potential for additional funding support under EnterpriseSG’s Startup SG Tech program for eligible startups.
“The success of the inaugural cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore reflects our commitment toward enabling promising AI startups with the means to turn innovative AI concepts into reality and commercialise them for local and global markets,” said Mr Philbert Gomez, Executive Director, Digital Industry Singapore.
“The creativity and sophistication of the AI products developed by the graduating startups is a testament to the talent in our local ecosystem, and its potential to deepen Singapore-based tech expertise, paving the way for long-term AI-powered growth. We look forward to deepening our partnership with Google Cloud as we continue supporting local organisations in their AI journey for growth in the digital economy.”
“Google Cloud has been a prolific contributor to the growth of genAI startups, with more than 60% of all funded gen AI startups and nearly 90% of today’s genAI unicorns leveraging our infrastructure and capabilities. Through Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore, we’re providing locally-based founders with access to our broad choice of foundation models and developer tools, as well as resources, support, and routes-to-market for early-stage companies that are in line with regional nuances, so they can build and scale new AI products from the ground up in a matter of weeks,” said Ms Serene Sia, Country Director, Singapore, Google Cloud.
Accelerating SME adoption of AI to elevate workforce proficiency and productivity
At the AI First event, Google Cloud and EnterpriseSG also launched the Gemini for Google Workspace Program (SMEs). The program will support eligible businesses with their adoption of Gemini for Google Workspace by defraying up to 50% of the licence costs for a 12-month usage period. This will help small business owners and their employees supercharge their productivity, creativity, and quality of work with industry-leading capabilities of Gemini for Google Workspace.
An always-on collaborator that helps teams write, organise, visualise, accelerate workflows, have richer meetings, and more, Gemini for Google Workspace was built with the everyday demands of small businesses in mind. It also gives organisations access to Gemini, Google’s most capable multimodal AI models, built into the collaboration and productivity apps that billions of people use every day, such as Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat, and soon, Google Vids, with built-in enterprise-grade data protections.
Apart from making it more cost-efficient for SMEs to adopt enterprise-grade generative AI (genAI) tools, the program will provide dedicated training and consultation by Google Cloud and its partner ecosystem to help SMEs effectively deploy Gemini for Google Workspace across business functions and processes.
This includes hands-on workshops to help companies and their users identify use cases where Gemini for Google Workspace can deliver the most measurable value and write effective prompts to get the most out of incorporating Gemini for Google Workspace into their daily workflows.
This launch follows the success of a pilot program conducted in August 2024, where companies like Big Tiny, IKARI Services, and Koufu participated as early adopters, and quickly experienced measurable benefits from using Gemini for Google Workspace. The early adopters utilised its capabilities to conduct competitive analysis, gather insights and close deals faster, create compelling marketing content, standardise and personalise customer service responses, and more.
Interested companies can learn more about the eligibility criteria for the Gemini for Google Workspace Program (SMEs) and sign up between 20 September 20 2024, and 19 March 19 2025.
“Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Singapore and Gemini for Google Workspace Program (SMEs) underscore EnterpriseSG’s efforts to boost Singapore’s fast-developing AI ecosystem and deepen our companies’ capabilities to simplify work processes and improve efficiency. We will continue to collaborate with AI ecosystem partners like Google Cloud to spur AI innovation and adoption among businesses to strengthen their competitiveness, build new capabilities, and capture emerging opportunities,” said Mr Geoffrey Yeo, Assistant Managing Director, Enterprise Singapore.
“The Gemini for Google Workspace Program (SMEs) makes it easier for small business owners and their employees to adopt and extract value from gen AI, given that these companies typically operate with a tighter pool of resources that may see one person doing the job of many and they would benefit from having time freed up to focus on important work and innovation. Alongside other initiatives like AI Trailblazers and Skills Ignition SG, the developments announced today fall under the programmatic and intentional approach that Google Cloud has been undertaking with the Singapore Government since May 2023, reinforcing our commitment toward helping organisations of all sizes thrive in an AI-enabled digital economy,” added Sia.
