<article><a href="http://www.unilever.com/" target="_blank">Unilever</a>, world&#8217;s third largest consumer goods producer, will be launching the Singapore edition of its in-house accelerator program, called the <a href="http://foundry.unilever.com/" target="_blank">Unilever Foundry</a>, on January 15 at Mapletree Business City.</article>

<a href="http://www.unilever.com/" target="_blank">Unilever</a>, world&#8217;s third largest consumer goods producer, will be launching the Singapore edition of its in-house accelerator program, called the <a href="http://foundry.unilever.com/" target="_blank">Unilever Foundry</a>, on January 15 at Mapletree Business City.
More than 300 marketing professionals and members of the Asian start-up community will be participating in the event that is an extension of company&#8217;s global platform for connecting start-ups with Unilever&#8217;s extensive portfolio of brands.The accelerator will be providing mentorships, project development resources and venture capital funding to the regional startups through it venture capital (VC) arm, Unilever Ventures.
According to the company, the program “provide startups and entrepreneurs with the opportunity to work on global projects, access mentoring from marketing professionals, and tap into a new source of funding through <a href="http://www.unileverventures.com/" target="_blank">Unilever Ventures</a>.”
In the Singapore launch, pitches will be based on briefs that require the deployment of digital solutions for sustainability-related issues. Some of these are water quality and efficiency in dishwashing and laundry and inspiring children to be more physically active.
The Unilever Foundry will function by having Unilever brands posting briefs on the foundry’s site, where entrepreneurs can evaluate them, subsequently pitching their ideas to the company in response to said briefs. If chosen, the startups then get to join the foundry for an intensive three month &#8216;accelerator-like&#8217; programme.
Peter Ter Kulve, president of Unilever South East Asia and Australasia, said: “By launching The Unilever Foundry in Singapore, we’re opening a direct line of communication with start-ups locally and across the region.”
Marc Mathieu, Unilever&#8217;s senior vice president of global marketing, said “We hope to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem and build businesses that might eventually become our global strategic partners. The Unilever Foundry is our platform to harness, nurture and evolve thousands of innovative ideas from the entrepreneurial community.”
Singapore is the regional business headquarters for Southeast Asia and the Australasia cluster, as well as Unilever Food Solutions. Singapore is also one of the six locations worldwide that houses Unilever’s Customer Insight and Innovation Centre, which examines consumer behaviour and also houses Unilever&#8217;s second global leadership development centre outside of London.
Unilever&#8217;s program was first launched in May 2014 in the UK. Since then, the company has already launched or committed to launching 50 pilots with different start-ups around the world.

Unilever Foundry to launch Singapore edition

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