JFDI.Asia to Select 12 Teams From 300 Applicants to its Third Boot Camp Program

Joyful Frog Digital Incubator Asia (JFDI.Asia), the Singapore-based incubator for tech startups in or focusing on Asia, has closed applications for the second intake of its accelerator program for 2013. Nearly 320 teams whose applications made it before the deadline closed on Wednesday (31/7) will be competing for 12 spots in the 100-day boot camp program.

Hugh Mason, co-founder and CEO of JFDI.Asia is delighted at the number of applicants. "This will be the third time we’ve run an accelerator program like this and the quantity and quality of teams applying grows every time". The first batch of JFDI's accelerator program from 2012 netted 11 teams, although four have shut down as of June 2013. The second batch was made up of seven graduating teams and presented themselves before investors from various countries on 3 June 2013. JFDI's portfolio can be found on its website.

"The range of business ideas and the level of expertise we see on our doorstep here in Asia is truly impressive and our metrics show that the startups we accelerate do as well as any of their peers in Europe or the US outside Silicon Valley”, said Mason in a statement.

JFDI regularly notes that over 60% of companies that went through its program since it was first established in 2011 manages to receive funding which averages around SG$650,000. The program generally has managed to raise the value of the companies in its program by four to five times in just 100 days.

Among the applicants to JFDI's program, over half originate from India or Singapore with the rest coming from other parts of Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, United States and even United Kingdom.

In exchange for a minority equity stake, every team joining the program will be offered a package including S$15,000 (USD 11,700) net cash, mentoring valued at S$150,000 (USD 117,000), technical and other vendor perks worth S$300,000 (USD 234,000) and working space for the duration of the program.

Vault Dragon, a storage service for space-constraint residents of Singapore is the first startup that has been confirmed to join JFDI's August boot camp program which will begin on 29 August and ending on 6 December followed by a demo day.