Battle Hardened

By Faridah Wu | Every six months, vikings will step onto the battlefield to clash. Only one will emerge victorious. These aren’t real vikings, of course, but entrepreneurs hoping to win a prestigious spot in the Vikingcubator program organized by NHST Media Group, which noticed a need for media-related startups in Asian markets.
The 15 teams gathered on April 19 at Collision 8 in Singapore, with each team given five minutes to pitch its idea to the judges. Only one winner was crowned, walking away with S$10,000 cash prize, mentorship from NHST Media Group and free use of its office space for four months.
 
Before the teams began pitching, Chief Viking and Host Are Gloersen offered these words: “be strong, bold, and to the point”. Solid advice for any startup company. At the end of the night, Malaysian startup Supernewsroom walked away victorious. Supernewsroom is a digital platform where startups can connect easily with the right journalist or key influencer in their industry. Currently available to businesses in Singapore and Malaysia, Supernewsroom plans to expand to the Asian market.
 
Judge Leonard Optiz Stornes says that Supernewsroom stood out for several reasons.

 
“The concept resonates with what we think is a good value proposition,” Stornes says. “The solution they presented represents real value and has market potential, not just in Asia but possibly the global market.”
 
Supernewsroom’s Chief Executive Officer Manminder Kaur Dhillon expressed her gratitude after being announced the winner, saying that the win represented “a validation” of the team’s hard work.
 
Two other startups received honorable mention from the judges: gaming technology company Bountie and peer-to-peer car buying and selling platform Driven.  
 
Here are the 15 startups who presented:
HiverLab                      Supernewsroom                       Tide Creatives 
Tartl                              Soqqle                                         MagBe
Zowedo                         ByKidO                                       Superble
Popspoken                   Bountie                                       Playground
Findjobs                       Team Pumpkin                         Driven
Vikingcubator is held biannually, and the next Vikingcubator will be in November 2018. Registration is open and can be found at www.vikingcubator.com
 
About The Author

Faridah Wu is Jumpstart’s Journalist In Residence (JIR) in Singapore. She has a Masters in Global Media Communication from the University of Melbourne. Faridah is interested in entrepreneurship, health and the environment. In her free time, she can be found writing for her website or at a pool perfecting her mermaiding technique.

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