Joyful Frog Digital Incubator or JFDI.Asia, a seed accelerator based in Singapore, obtained $2.1 million in financing, TechCrunch reported.
Infocomm Investments led the funding which was also participated in by Russia-based SpinUp Partners and Fenox, an investor based in Silicon Valley. The latest funding would help JFDI.Asia fulfill its dream of turning Singapore into Southeast Asia's hub for startups. Specifically, it will be deployed towards nurturing more ideas as well as supporting new startups that will be incubated this month, the report said.
JFDI said, "Including two further runs of the program later in the year, 2014 should see JFDI add an additional 30-40 startups to its portfolio of alumni, with ambitions to expand that by a further 40-60 startups in 2015."
Getting investors abroad to join the newest funding round will help the Singapore-based accelerator learn from their experience and expertise. It will also pave the way for collaboration. CrunchBase data showed that JFDI. Asia is following the Techstars model for its accelerator that focuses on Asia-made mobile and digital products and services.
SpinUp Partners Director and Chairman of the Board Sergey Gorokhov said in a statement, "In Russia, we have talented startup teams and capital seeking access to world markets. Singapore is the gateway to Asia for us and we look forward to working closely with JFDI.Asia into the future."
Singapore has been making bold moves to become Southeast Asia's Silicon Valley. Asian Venture Capital Journal Research revealed that last year, the island state's technology sector was able to lure $1.71 billion worth of venture capital, representing an increase from the $27.9 million it raised in 2011, the report said.
In a statement, JFDI said that of the 27 teams that have gone through the FDI program since 2012, over 60% were able to gather $513,000 on the average for each team, the report said.
Join the Conversation