Singapore Airlines (SIA) is offering budding UK entrepreneurs the chance to take part in its AppChallenge, a global digital innovation challenge.
The challenge, now in its fifth year, calls on innovators and entrepreneurs to propose digital solutions that will address business challenges and redefine the passenger travel experience with a focus on sustainability. Winners of the challenge will be offered a place in Singapore Airlines’ Accelerator Programme, which provides up to S$150,000 in development funding.
The SIA Accelerator Programme is a joint initiative by NUS Enterprise and SIA, which aims to boost efficiencies and the customer experience within the travel sector, while also creating new business opportunities for start-ups. As part of the Accelerator Programme, participants will go through mentoring, coaching and a validation programme run by NUS Enterprise, covering areas such as customer discovery, tech solution identification, product-market fit and business model viability.
One of the five start-ups that graduated from the inaugural Accelerator Programme in June 2019 was Migacore, a UK-based data science company that first came together at Entrepreneur First in London.
Participants in the AppChallenge can choose to register in groups of up to four. To take part in the ‘Startups and Innovators’ category, candidates must submit a response to one of six real-world challenges set by Singapore Airlines before 23rd August 2019:
- Customer Experience: On-ground – offering effortless and customised ground experiences for SIA passengers.
- Customer Experience: Lounge – redefining SIA’s lounge experience to better cater to the needs of premium passengers.
- Customer Experience: In-flight – elevating the in-flight seat and entertainment experience to delight SIA passengers.
- Travel Ecosystem: KrisShop – bridging the physical and digital elements at various customer touchpoints to increase SIA’s presence in the online to offline/offline to online space.
- Engineering: Aircraft maintenance – enabling SIA engineers to achieve higher productivity in aircraft maintenance.
- Sustainability: Resource management – leveraging new technologies and data to improve SIA’s green impact.
Shortlisted entries will be announced on 30th August 2019, with the semi-final commencing on 2nd September 2019. Twelve teams will then be invited to pitch at the AppChallenge final in Singapore on 18th October, where teams will be evaluated based on the following criteria: innovation, business value, technical competency, operational feasibility, scalability and user experience. Flights and two nights’ accommodation will be provided by Singapore Airlines.
In addition to flights and accommodation for the finalist teams, there is an array of prizes on offer for the winner: mentoring by Singapore Airlines industry veterans; networking opportunities with renowned brands in the industry; exposure and insights into the global aviation industry; cash prizes and KrisFlyer miles.
Singapore Airlines’ General Manager for the UK and Ireland, Sheldon Hee said: “We are very excited for the Singapore Airlines AppChallenge’s fifth year. Innovation is core to our business; our ambition is to be the world’s leading digital airline. With the AppChallenge, we want to inspire and nurture the next generation of aviation industry pioneers. We are really looking forward to receiving the entries and working with talented innovators to enhance the way we travel, now and in the future.”
