S$6 million funding for built environment accelerator programme to bring more innovations to life

Friday, 22 February 2019

- 16 challenge statements from 14 industry stakeholders for innovators to solve
- Facebook to be among the official sponsors for the first phase of the programme

Singapore, 22 February 2019 - The Built Environment Accelerate to Market Programme (BEAMP) was officially launched this morning by Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong. This is an initiative by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), supported by Enterprise Singapore, and JTC Corporation (JTC), which aims to bring inventors and companies together to fast track the entire innovation process to solve real world industry challenges.

2. A S$6million funding support will be provided for the development and commercialisation of innovative solutions through Enterprise Singapore’s Gov-PACT initiative. Local SMEs will receive up to 70% of the qualifying project cost, while local non-SMEs will receive up to 50%. Beyond funding support, Enterprise Singapore is working closely with BCA to connect solutions providers, including startups, to companies in the Built Environment sector seeking innovative solutions for their current needs. JTC will offer relevant spaces in selected buildings and estates to collaborators to test-bed and/or pilot their new solutions. In addition, Facebook is one of the sponsors for the first phase of BEAMP and will provide a shortlisted winner with a prize, a mentorship programme and the opportunity to work with Fortis Construction as they build Facebook’s data centre in Singapore.

3. 14 industry stakeholders have been identified as demand drivers, also known as Challenge Statement Owners (CSO), for this programme. These are industry firms and public agencies which are seeking solutions for various aspects of the building lifecycle and they were given the opportunity to present their challenge statements to potential solution providers. A total of 16 challenge statements were revealed, spanning across a wide range of topics including smart project management and facilities management, construction manufacturing and fabrication, building inspections, knowledge management and data capture, and construction safety.

4. BCA CEO, Mr Hugh Lim said, “Research and innovation plays an important role in boosting the transformation of our built environment sector. Our BuildSG transformation office has regular engagements with the Trade Associations & Chambers (TACs) and industry stakeholders, and some have given feedback that innovation in the sector often does not progress beyond the first prototype or pilot-testing due to the lack of support and follow-through for full-scale development and adoption. This accelerator programme will help to bridge the current gap between solution seekers and providers. By attracting and matching more innovators to industry firms, we aim to accelerate our drive toward an advanced and integrated sector with progressive and collaborative firms.”

5. Following the launch of BEAMP and the release of the first set of challenge statements today, solution providers and innovators are invited to submit their proposals by 12 April 2019. Innovators may apply for either (1) the Accelerate Solution Development phase or (2) the Market Development phase, depending on the technical maturity of the solution proposed.

6. For the Accelerate Solution Development phase, innovators have up to five months to develop their solutions. Their solutions will be showcased to potential investors at the International Built Environment Week (IBEW) in September this year, during its ‘Demo Day’ event. In the later Market Development phase, challenge statement owners will work closely with innovators to further refine their solutions for downstream adoption. The entire process for Market Development could take up to 18 months.

7. Mr Michael Yap, Managing Partner, TNB, the appointed accelerator for BEAMP, said, “Months before this launch, we held a series of engagement sessions with industry stakeholders to elicit their challenges that could potentially be solved through this accelerator programme. The response was most encouraging as many of them were forthcoming in sharing their problems and developing the challenge statements. Some stakeholders shared the same sentiment towards a certain issue and are looking forward to hear from solution providers. This is a good sign as it means there is already a demand for a solution and potential for commercialisation. We are excited to embark on this journey with the built environment sector to transform the way they build.”

8. Firms with ready innovations were also invited to showcase at the event, providing them a platform to link up with potential clients and partners, to adopt or further develop their product. One such firm is POD Structures Pte Ltd which developed the Precision Alignment Lifting Equipment (PALE) for hoisting and installing modular building components like Prefabricated Bathroom Units (PBUs) and a lightweight, rapidly deployable modular building system.

9. Said Eunice Koh, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore, “Gaining early access to industry problem statements which customers are prepared to pay to solve will help our startups and companies develop commercially-relevant solutions. This market-led innovation approach enables them to work closely with the industry, fine-tune their solutions and scale up both locally and overseas in a shorter timeframe. ESG’s financial and non-financial support through Gov-PACT will contribute to a more vibrant innovation ecosystem in the construction sector.”

10. JTC’s Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Mr Heah Soon Poh, said, “As a BEAMP partner, JTC will offer relevant spaces in selected buildings and estates to collaborators to test-bed and/or pilot their new solutions. With the opportunity to test the feasibility of their ideas in a large-scale real world environment, companies can accelerate the market deployment process and develop their track record.”

11. About 370 stakeholders comprising developers, builders, consultants, trade associations and chambers (TACs), innovators, incubators, accelerators, and regulators have signed up for the event. They were keen to learn more about the programme and how they could benefit from it. Interested parties can find more details about this programme at the BE-AMP website (www.tnb/vc/BEAMP).

Issued by the Building and Construction Authority on 22 February 2019

Portable document format version of the media release is also available (521KB .pdf).