YSE Series: A Conversation with Blue Chilli
As we recover from the pandemic, good health and well-being solutions have become extremely relevant topics among the main stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, including youth social entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and incubator/accelerator programmes.
BlueChilli HealthTech is an accelerator programme that specialises in commercialising innovative solutions and shaping technology with human empathy, focused on market validation.
We had a chat with Seow Hui Hong (Former Programme Director at BlueChilli Health Tech), who has over 10 years of experience working for social purpose and health-related organisations. She shared her insightful thoughts on the role of BlueChilli in the ecosystem and their experience working and supporting entrepreneurs in the health industry.
- What are the most innovative solutions you have seen from youth in the healthTech space?
Seow: Some of the most innovative solutions in Singapore that I have seen from a deep tech perspective include Biofourmis and See-mode . The former is a biotechnology company that augments personalized care and therapies using digital therapeutics. The latter uses AI to empower clinicians to predict stroke.
There has also been a new shift towards emerging issues such as mental health, with WHO warning that a global mental health pandemic is looming. Startups such as Safe Space had risen in recent times to take on such challenges, made more pronounced with COVID-19. However, something to keep in mind is that innovation is not just the breakthrough technology, but also the resilience to keep at for the long term, being able to work at it to make progress so you are poised to take opportunities when they emerge.
2. How do you evaluate startups for your portfolio?
Seow: We have four main criteria. The first one is problem market fit which is looking at whether the startup has a strong understanding of its problem space. The second one is a problem team fit, which is looking at whether they have the right team set up to solve this problem. We are also looking for teams that have demonstrated that they have sufficient depth of understanding of the problem. The third one is scalability. Startups need to ask themselves whether their idea is really scalable with venture capital. At Blue Chilli Health Tech Accelerator, we emphasize on demonstrating our startups’ product-market fit and traction in priming them for investment. The last one is a team programme fit. In order to get investors that are willing to invest in their project, the startup founders must show that they are willing to learn and adapt. In order words, the founders must be coachable and able to take feedback along their journey.
3. What kind of support do you provide to these young companies?
Seow: During the first batch of the accelerator programme, we helped startups with mentor matching and we take a proactive product management approach such as running sprints with the startups for market validation. We also act as internal resources to help with their roadblocks or as their external wing such as assisting them with partnerships.
4. What advice would you provide to young social entrepreneurs in Singapore?
Seow: Always start with the problem and have a deep understanding of what you are trying to solve, who you are trying to solve the problem for, and what matters most to them. Try to enter the problem space, have the humility to understand the problem and those affected by the problem. After identifying the problem and your idea to solve it, be willing to evolve your idea and business model according to market needs.
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This blog is part of our Singapore Youth Social Entrepreneurship (YSE) Series. Stay tuned as in our next few blogs, we will continue to showcase the Youth Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Singapore, as well as address some of the main challenges and opportunities for the youth willing to take this journey or already on it.
About Youth Co:Lab:
Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about the Youth Co: Lab, visit: https://www.youthcolab.org/
