To level the playing field for startups as well as Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, 16-year-old Sofia Chen looks to launch upcie on this National Day, Aug 9. upcie will serve to be a free online match-making platform for these Singaporean firms to enjoy pro bono advisory from mentors, who range from corporate executives of MNCs to entrepreneurs.
Coming from Singapore and across the world, these mentors will be matched, based on their areas of expertise, to their mentees’ proposed business needs.
With upcie, Chen aims to simplify the mentor-mentee matching process via the proprietary matching algorithm that underpins upcie’s free platform.
“I observed that while start-up competition winners receive ample mentorship and resources, many other promising businesses are left to navigate challenges on their own. So, I hope to fill this gap with upcie,” tells Chen.
The name upcie (pronounced up-see) embodies the concept of mentors elevating their mentees; it is inspired by the phrase "upsy daisy", often used to give the young encouragement and support. As a self-funded pay-it-forward initiative, upcie is seeded by Chen’s parents with the cash equivalent of a scholarship award that she had received from school.
upcie currently boasts a roster of seven mentors, who have had experiences working in Singapore and around the globe, and will continue to onboard appropriate new mentors who sign up.
See also: Prudential launches global AI Lab in Singapore to accelerate innovation
Among the first mentors, there is Steven Kim, who serves as the CEO at NOTA America Inc, a leading-edge AI software startup and Thai entrepreneur Ann Kositchotitana.
