(Sept 18): For a startup, securing work from a government agency can be a daunting task. A single sales pitch can take six to nine months of talking to 20 different groups of people, all the time with no clarity on how likely it is that a contract will be awarded. But Edwin Low says start-ups should not despair of ever securing government work. Low is director of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s Accreditation @ IMDA programme, which helps to rubber stamp start-ups and get them through the doors at government agencies and large enterprises.
“[We provide] assurance to the user [of the start-up],” says Low. “We don’t accredit commoditised products; we accredit products with a [unique value proposition] compared with what is out there in the market. We actually benchmark them against what’s out there in the market with real users; we establish UVP and market demand.”
Launched in July 2014, Accreditation @ IMDA has since helped start-ups generate about $80 million in sales to government agencies. It has closed more than 120 projects and raised over $59 million in fresh capital during or after accreditation.
