SHOPEE SPURS BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS IN NEW INITIATIVE WITH NUS ENTERPRISE

Singapore, 11 October 2016 –  Shopee, Southeast Asia’s number one mobile marketplace, today announced the Shopee X NUS mCommerce Challenge – a start-up competition that gives entrepreneurial students a taste of what it’s like to run an online business. The competition, in collaboration with NUS Enterprise, is part of a wider program that aims to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the region.

Since its launch, Shopee has committed to investing over S$10 million to building its young entrepreneurship program across Southeast Asia and Taiwan. One notable initiative is Shopee University, an entrepreneurship development program, is aimed at empowering individuals to grow their businesses on Shopee. The curriculum, developed in conjunction with some of the platform’s top sellers, strives to impart valuable mCommerce knowledge to its seller community.

“Although mobile commerce is growing rapidly across the region, aspiring entrepreneurs often don’t know how to start nor make full use of the available opportunities,” said Chris Feng, Chief Executive Officer of Shopee. “Through the Shopee X NUS mCommerce Challenge, we aim to address these hurdles and equip these students with the right tools and confidence to kick-start their own ventures.”

Held at The Hangar by NUS Enterprise, participating students will gather for a one-day training workshop to learn the basics of setting up a store on Shopee, from store operations to marketing strategies. Following the workshop, teams will be given seed capital to kick-start their online store which they are to run for two weeks, while experiencing real-life challenges faced by online sellers – in marketing, logistics and customer service.

At the end of the two weeks, all teams will present their final pitch to a judging panel which includes Kelvin Tan, Deputy Director of NUS Enterprise, and Ruoshan Tao, Marketing Team Lead of Shopee Singapore. Teams will be judged based on three key criteria – business concept and modelling, real-life store management and performance, and the final pitch presentation. The winning team will also walk away with a cash prize of S$1,500.

The one-day workshop will be held on 15 October, while final presentations and results will be announced on 29 October. More details may also be found on the Shopee x NUS mCommerce event Facebook Page.