Echelon Asia Summit 2019

Actually, this is my first time to attend this event, I’ve missed 2 years, I heard that this is a very important event for startups in Singapore. When I enter the Echelon I felt the exhibition area in Singapore Expo is smaller than Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, creating the feeling that it is very crowded, which is good for exhibitors. The most scaring thing for exhibitors is no one coming to the exhibition, at the same time, indeed, there are many people coming. In terms of pricing of the ticket, I would say this exhibition is very valuable to visit. The App for Echelon is easy to use, just the pity part it was not possible to access by the computer.

In the exhibitions, there were 4 parts: Top100, Marketplace, Startup Booths, and Pavilion. Top100 is the startup accelerator program run by e27. The Marketplace is for a more mature company. Startup Booths is for the startup company not in Top100. The Pavilion is for the different organization they bring their own startups.

The most interesting part is Echelon put the speakers’ stage mix in the middle of exhibitors, there is no boundary to filter the voice, therefore in the same moment, you will hear different stage talks about a different topic. The good part is there will be no staffs to check your ticket again if you want to go different stage because it is simply in the same space. The downside is it is a little bit noisy when you want to focus on a topic because there were too many voices behind you.

If you want to learn something from the professionals, there were 4 stages: Founder Stage, Future Stage, Capital Stage, Top100. Founder Stage focus on startup founders talks about their journey to build the company. Future Stage talks about a different topic for the future, ex. blockchain. Capital Stage focuses on the investment firm how do they approach the market. Top100 focus on different startups pitch competition up to 3 or 6 minutes, the VCs as the judges listen in front of the stage, by the end of the exhibition, there was a final competition which attracts most of the people, it was an exciting moment.

The most interesting part of the Echelon is the workshop, which many people is not really aware of it because the workshop is in a hidden place if you don’t ask, you will never find it out. The workshop I’ve joined there were many experienced professionals in the market is willing to hear your problems and discuss how their experiences could help you solve your problems, it is a little bit like a free consultation time, that was the most amazing part of Echelon.