TechBurst Asia Podcast
Charles Reed Anderson
In the dynamic realm of technology, buzzwords such as IoT, Smart Cities, and AI hold promise for transformative change, yet why do they often fall short of expectations? Introducing TechBurst Talks — a beacon of pragmatism in an industry often swayed by complacent optimism. Join us as we engage with global industry leaders to delve into the latest buzzwords, discerning between hype and reality.
Categories: Technology
Listen to the last episode:
If you keep up to date with the latest technology news, you know that the momentum and investment has shifted from Asia to the Middle East. But gone are the days where countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE just import technology and talent - the new trend across the Middle East is how to create a home-grown technology startup ecosystem - and this is what we are going to cover in today’s podcast.
Let’s face it - money is not going to be an issue - but as we have seen from other countries, just throwing money at the startup ecosystem is no guarantee that it will be successful.
To help us go through this topic, we are joined by the Partner & Co-Founder of SparkLabs Group, Bernard Moon. SparkLabs has made a name for itself by launching accelerators and VC funds in Asia, Australia and the US, but now they are entering the Middle East market, so let’s see what has drawn SparkLabs to that region - and what Bernard thinks will be the critical success factors to making sure they get a return on their investments.
Show Notes:
00:00 Intro to Bernard Moon and SparkLabs Group
02:30 SparkLabs new accelerator programs in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi
06:00 How does SparkLabs plan to find the “best of the best” startups in the Middle East
08:45 Do you see any similarities between the Middle East markets and other countries where you have had success with your accelerators (e.g. Korea, Taiwan)? And are there any specific opportunities and / or risks compared to the other markets you operate in?
14:30 What are the critical success factors for the Middle East markets to develop a home grown startup ecosystem? And what is the role of academia in creating this?
20:30 What does SparkLabs look for in startups that they want to invest in? And are there any red flags that you watch out for?
24:00 What will it take for SparkLabs to view their entry into the Middle East accelerator market a success?
26:00 What can countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE learn from other markets, like Singapore, that haven’t made the most of their investment / funding of their local startup ecosystem?
30:00 Why are startups keen to be involved with SparkLabs versus the many other accelerator programs in the market?
33:00 Last week, SparkLabs listed it’s USD 100m SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) on Nasdaq. Can you give us an overview of how this came about and what your strategy for the SPAC is?
More information on SparkLabs can be found here:
Contact Bernard directly: bernard@sparklabsglobal.com
Previous episodes
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52 - 052: THE MIDDLE EAST STARTUP ECOSYSTEM: The money is there, now what? Tue, 17 Oct 2023 - 0h
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51 - 051: AI, CHATGPT & FLYING TAXIS: How Government-led initiatives drive the Middle East's Innovation Ecosystem Sun, 28 May 2023 - 0h
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50 - 050: RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION? How the Middle East is driving technology innovation and spend Tue, 23 May 2023 - 0h
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49 - 049: PROPTECH 2023: Moving Beyond the Buzzwords Mon, 13 Feb 2023 - 0h
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48 - 048: Why RETURN TO THE OFFICE Strategies FAIL (Hint: FREE BEER is not enough) Mon, 24 Oct 2022 - 0h
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47 - 047: Driving INNOVATION and SUSTAINABILITY in the F&B Industry Tue, 27 Sep 2022 - 0h
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46 - 046: 2022 GADGET FIX: How APPLE's new SMARTPHONES & SMARTWATCH will impact the industry Sun, 18 Sep 2022 - 0h
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45 - 045: Beyond ESG: Why IMPACT INVESTING needs to be the NEXT BIG THING Mon, 11 Jul 2022 - 0h
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44 - 044: AR/VR and the METAVERSE: What's REAL and What's HYPE? Tue, 03 May 2022 - 0h
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43 - 043: SMART CITIES 2022: Unblocking the MEGA-BLOCKERS Tue, 23 Nov 2021 - 0h
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42 - 042: SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION: Reducing Emissions WITHOUT Increasing Costs w/ Ampd Energy's Brandon Ng Sun, 21 Nov 2021 - 0h
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41 - 041: OpenRAN 2022: Can It Live Up To The HYPE? w/ Nokia's Terry McCabe Mon, 15 Nov 2021 - 0h
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40 - 040: Emerging Trends Pt 3/3: CRYPTO, NFTs and What the Hell is going on in CHINA? w/ Analyse Asia's Bernard Leong Sun, 10 Oct 2021 - 0h
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39 - 039: Emerging Trends Pt 2/3: DRONES, AI & DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION w/ Analyse Asia's Bernard Leong Tue, 05 Oct 2021 - 0h
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38 - 038: Emerging Trends Pt 1/3: SMART CITIES & 5G w/ Bernard Leong Interviewing CRA Thu, 30 Sep 2021 - 0h
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37 - 037: The State of SE Asia's VC and Startup Ecosystems w/ Cap Connect's Chris Tran Mon, 27 Sep 2021 - 0h
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36 - 036: Enterprise CONNECTIVITY SIMPLIFIED w/ Blue Wireless' Ivan Landen Wed, 22 Sep 2021 - 0h
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35 - 035: WATER moves up the SUSTAINABILITY Agenda w/ Xylem's Renee Peet Tue, 14 Sep 2021 - 0h
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34 - 034: The State of Singapore's DEEPTECH, VC & START-UP Ecosystems w/ NTUitive's David Toh Sat, 07 Aug 2021 - 0h
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33 - 033: From Cooking with FIRE to Embracing TECH w/ Burnt Ends' Dave Pynt Tue, 03 Aug 2021 - 0h
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32 - 032: The PANDEMIC prevented you from attending MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS? Here's what you missed... w/ McKinsey's Ferry Grijpink Wed, 07 Jul 2021 - 0h
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31 - 031: What the hell is OPENRAN? And how will it impact the future of 5G? w/ BlueFire's Rob Jones Sat, 03 Jul 2021 - 0h
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30 - 030: Can TECHNOLOGY save HEALTHCARE? w/ Moss Adams' Craig Vercruysse Mon, 17 May 2021 - 0h
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29 - 029: Your 2021 GADGET FIX: The latest trends in SMARTPHONES, WEARABLES & AIRTAGS w/ IDC's Bryan Ma Mon, 26 Apr 2021 - 0h
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28 - 028: The GENDER LEADERSHIP DIVIDE w/ VMWare & Lean In Singapore's Uma Thana Balasingam Mon, 12 Apr 2021
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27 - 027: Addressing AI's ETHICAL ISSUES w/ the former US Dept of Defense's Chief Data Officer Michael Conlin Thu, 08 Apr 2021
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26 - 026: The Post-Pandemic FUTURE of BUILDINGS & SMART CITIES Panel w/ Eight Inc, Bosch.IO & JLL Mon, 15 Mar 2021
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25 - 025: Leveraging 5G, IoT & AI to DIGITISE one of the World's Largest Conglomerates w/ True Digital's Michael Gryseels Tue, 02 Mar 2021 - 0h
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24 - 024: Making SENSE...and CENTS...out of the 5G Market Opp w/ McKinsey's Ferry Grijpink Tue, 23 Feb 2021 - 0h
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23 - 023: What's in store for Southeast Asia's Tech & Telecoms Industries in 2021 w/ PwC's Mike Graham Mon, 01 Feb 2021 - 0h
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22 - 022: 5G is Dead, Long Live 5G! w/ Nokia's Danial Mausoof Mon, 11 Jan 2021 - 0h
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21 - 021: Are Telcos Ready for 5G? And Do Customers Actually Want or Need 5G? w/ Chris Lewis Thu, 17 Dec 2020 - 0h
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20 - 020: The Sustainability Challenge - Balancing Profits & Social Impact w/ PropertyGuru Co-Founder Steve Melhuish Mon, 23 Nov 2020 - 0h
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19 - 019: The Future of Talent & Leadership w/ Egon Zehnder's Elaine Yew Wed, 11 Nov 2020 - 0h
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18 - 018: A New Approach to Smart Cities w/ Hitachi's Theo Scherman Tue, 15 Sep 2020 - 0h
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17 - 017: Driving DeepTech in Singapore w/ SG Innovate CEO Jui Lim Wed, 02 Sep 2020 - 0h
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16 - 016: Sustainability in the Post COVID-19 World - Are Companies Ready To Act? w/ SparkLabs & Equilibrium's Frank Meehan Tue, 05 May 2020 - 0h
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15 - 015: The Post-Pandemic "New Normal" World: Marketing & Comms will never be the same - and that's not a bad thing w/ Asia's podcast guru Graham Brown Wed, 22 Apr 2020
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14 - 014: Smart Cities 2020: The Coronavirus Impact w/ the City of Darwin's Josh Sattler Wed, 15 Apr 2020 - 0h
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13 - 013: Bosch Connected World 2020 - the latest on sustainability, smart buildings and how AI + IoT = AIoT Wed, 25 Mar 2020 - 0h
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12 - 012: Automotive Industry Evolution - the move to the sharing economy w/ Daimler's David Goh Wed, 18 Mar 2020 - 0h
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11 - 011: How an open and pragmatic approach led to global LoRaWAN network w/ The Things Network's Wienke Giezeman Mon, 02 Mar 2020 - 0h
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10 - 010: The Global Perspective on Accelerators & Venture Capital w/ SparkLabs' Bernard Moon Tue, 21 Jan 2020 - 0h
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9 - 009: Building a Successful IoT Business w/ Bosch's Thomas Jakob Thu, 16 Jan 2020 - 0h
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8 - 008: The Experience Design Visionary Behind the Apple Store Concept w/ Eight Inc.’s Tim Kobe Mon, 11 Nov 2019 - 0h
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7 - 007: Telco Disruption w/ Tata Comms' Anthony Bartolo Mon, 04 Nov 2019 - 0h
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6 - 006: Smartphones 2019 - Do They Live Up to the Hype w/ IDC's Bryan Ma Sat, 26 Oct 2019 - 0h
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5 - 005: The Evolution of the Smartwatch w/ Laurent Le Pen Mon, 21 Oct 2019 - 0h
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4 - 004: The Telco's Role in IoT w/ Telstra's Gerhard Loots Tue, 17 Sep 2019 - 0h
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3 - 003: Disruptive Agri Tech w/ the World Bank's Parmesh Shah Mon, 09 Sep 2019 - 0h