JFDI.Asia launches 'Ambassador’ programme

• Ambassadors to connect JFDI.Asia with existing startup groups and events
• They will also leverage upon JFDI.Asia’s network to support local partners

 

JOYFUL Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI.Asia) has appointed the first in a new network of ‘Ambassadors’ that it said would support the growth of startup communities across Asia.
 
The Ambassadors will connect JFDI.Asia more effectively with existing startup groups and events in Thailand, Malaysia, India and the Philippines.
 
The initiative would build on what local organisers have already created and share the opportunities and insights of JFDI.Asia’s mentors, investors and startup growth programmes, the company said in a statement.
 
JFDI Ambassadors are passionate about growing their home country’s startup ecosystem and will leverage upon JFDI.Asia’s network to support local partners, it added.
 
“Startup ecosystems across Asia are so diverse and often have language and cultural complexities unique to their own,” said JFDI.Asia chief executive officer Hugh Mason.
 
“At JFDI.Asia, we find it imperative to listen before we speak – and that is exactly what we are trying to do with the Ambassadors network: To first understand local startup landscapes, before thinking of how we can contribute,” he added.
 
The pilot batch of JFDI Ambassadors feature a diverse mix of entrepreneurs, professionals and students: Pitch Taniteerawong from Bangkok; Timmy de Jesus from Cebu; Mukul Pasricha and Yatin Thakur from New Delhi; Ryan Chong, Lio Yi Jun and Keith Tan from Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
 
The ambassadors joined JFDI.Asia in Singapore for its fourth Demo Day on July 7 and witnessed teams from their home countries pitching to an audience of global investors and media.
 
In the coming months, JFDI Ambassadors will be present at local startup events to reach out to entrepreneurs and work with partners to explore potential collaboration.
 
They will also help spread word of local startup development programmes, introduce mentors and investors, and help JFDI.Asia understand the needs of their local startup communities better, JFDI.Asia said.
 
Thailand JFDI Ambassador Pitch Taniteerawong will represent JFDI.Asia at the upcoming Startup Weekend Bangkok (Women’s edition).
 
“JFDI.Asia's new frameworks for ‘de-risking’ and accelerating innovation, teaching entrepreneurship, offers new opportunities for wealth creation,” she said.
 
“I believe JFDI.Asia can significantly increase the number of successful Asia-based startups in the next five years. It’s time to bring startups in Asia to the next level,” she added.
 
JFDI India Ambassador Yatin Thakur, who is also cofounder of co-working space Moonlighting, said, “it feels like there is an opportunity both to help build local ecosystems and also to form a pan-Asia Pacific ecosystem that will learn from Silicon Valley but be Asian in its values, located in Asia for Asia.”
 
Ambassadors will also share details about JFDI Discovery, a monthly online programme offered by JFDI.Asia that offers a taste of the JFDI Accelerator and features tools that help entrepreneurs learn about the customer development process and Lean Startup methodology.
 
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