Echelon scoured Asia over 2-months and heard pitches from over 300 startups to find the TOP100 companies from the region!
Let’s get reeeaaaadddddyyyyyy to rrruuuuummmmmmbbbblllleeeee!
Once again, startups in Southeast Asia can expect the TOP100 Fight Club stage at Echelon to be the talk of the town. This year’s crop boasts a plethora of amazing startups from multiple industry verticals that truly represent the scene in Asia.
For anyone currently in the ecosystem, or just peeking from the outside, this will be THE treat at Echelon Asia Summit 2018!
It is anyone’s guess who will be crowned as Echelon’s TOP100 Fight Club Champion champion but we are excited to have these startups coming in ready to do battle.
Here is a little backstory of our journey. In a previous article Jiaway travelled down to 13 countries across APAC and spent her days hunting-down for the best of the best. Let’s just say we were not disappointed.
The rules were simple. Every startup got 3-minutes to pitch followed by a 5-minute Q&A conducted by our brilliant pool of judges. Our panel was not only judging, but providing constructive criticism and valuable feedback.
Some startups said they even got a little intimidated by some of the judges but nonetheless faced their fears and took the hits like champions.
Even though not every team was selected for the TOP100 Qualifiers, everyone was still a winner in our eyes. Pitching in front of a crowd is no easy feat — plus, we required pitches to be in English so a lot of our entrepreneurs were publicly speaking in their second, or third, language. Impressive.
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As we live in a digital age that continually evolves, some wonder why there is still a need to meet-up with someone face-to-face when tools like Skype make things a lot more efficient (and affordable!).
After the past two months, we are more convinced than ever that face-to-face communication will never die in a digital era, which is why we went back to our original model.
Display of dedication and commitment
At the end of the day, it’s about adding that “personal touch” of face-to-face communication. This is of utmost importance to those dealing with outside clients and stakeholders.
Making an effort to travel to another city shows the ‘hosting’ side of the partnership that we care about the agreement and are more than happy to jump on a plane and make sure the project is a success.
It cultivates a sense of shared community comes with the ability to interact and socialise. Through this, a foundation of trust is built, and ultimately creates a better working relationship.
Missed emails and delayed replies can usually be forgiven once they see the the commitment to 100 per cent effort when working in their presence. It allows valued partners to see the dedication and commitment and that this deal is not just for us, but for the collaborating partner as well.
It builds a stronger sense of working relationships
When it comes to events and meetings, being in person always sends a better message. It allows both sides to better understand and adapt to the different working cultures.
We chose to work with brilliant co-organizers but we did not just simply say:’ Run the show guys, we will watch from the sidelines.’
Instead, we traveled in, met up with these amazing people and startups and ran the roadshows together.
And by the end of the day both parties had fostered a better bond and stronger relations with one another.
Congratulations to all our TOP100 startups that pitched. To those that have made it, we will see you soon for your final showdown! And to those who did not make it and future startups, look forward to the next round next year!
Come join us at the Fight Club Stage and watch these startups battle it out on the 28 & 29 of June at Echelon Asia Summit 2018!
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