As part of the run up to Echelon Asia Summit in June 2017, e27 is revamping TOP100 – its annual startup pitch competition and conference exhibition showcase – by playing matchmaker between startups and their ideal investors. All startups need to do is fill out an online profile.
TOP100 will focus on acting as “an online fundraising platform for any startup and investor,” evolving far beyond simply providing startups with a stage to present on.
Using a proprietary matching algorithm, TOP100 connects startups and investors based on their compatibility with each other (measured through various undisclosed metrics). Once connected, TOP100 acts as an online messaging platform, offering a direct communication pathway between the two parties.
The e27 TOP100 platform hopes to step over some of all too common hurdles faced by startups. For one, the online platform overcomes the geographical boundaries between startup and investor as TOP100 covers the whole region.
The instant messaging platform would make it far easier for both parties to develop an immediate online relationship. It diverges quite significantly from the etiquette and typical back-and-forth delay of e-mail, a perceptibly more ‘formal’ medium.
As for the investors involved – we’re not just talking about small fish. Past investors involved at e27 have included: Queen’s Road Capital, MDI Ventures, SoGal and Golden Gate Ventures, to name a few.
Other perks of signing up to TOP100 include media exposure on e27 and other websites, as well as opportunities to attend exclusive member network events between March and May.
Alongside the new matchmaking service, startups will still also enter the running to be selected as part of the TOP100 startup exhibition at the Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore in June 2017. Startups will be able to showcase their businesses to the large crowds that typically attend the annual conference.
Startups that sign up to e27 TOP100 also get access to exclusive partner events
Going beyond the pitch
While e27 have hosted various startup pitch competitions, TOP100 originally began in 2015 as a way to better showcase the hundred or so startups that would exhibit themselves every year at e27’s Echelon conferences.
This year will run quite differently from e27’s past startup pitching formats, though Wilfred Loh (Projects & Marketing, e27) says that TOP100 will retain some of its previous elements.
The main difference is that e27 has axed its satellite pitching competition that is held across Southeast Asia, where the best were selected to represent their respective countries at the Echelon Asia Summit.
Each Echelon conference will still run independent pitching programmes however they will not act as the pre-qualifiers to the main summit’s startup competition, as in previous years.
Instead, it is those that create a profile on TOP100 that will automatically enter and compete to be one of the best in the programme. “Startups pre-seed to Series A who have registered in the TOP100 program… will be eligible to pitch and exhibit at Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore,” clarified Loh.
Loh hopes that by revamping TOP100 to be able to cater startups at any stage throughout the region (and those that are more focused on fundraising over pitching and exhibiting), entrepreneurs will feel more motivated to enter.
“In 2015 and 2016, 500+ and 700+ startups have signed up respectively,” said Loh, but this year, e27 has its sights set on getting upwards of at least 500-1000 startups and investors involved.
Registrations for TOP100 have already opened with selections for the pitch to be announced in June.
