Southeast Asia’s Largest Hackathon, Startup Weekend Singapore 2020 kicks off

• Hybrid event to see Singapore DPM, Heng Swee Keat, give opening remarks
• With its ‘Tomorrow’ theme, challenging youth to address key issues in SEA

Startup Weekend Singapore (SWSG) 2020, one of Southeast Asia’s largest open innovation hackathons, will run its latest online edition from 25 to 27 September 2020.

Welcoming more than 450 participants and blending a physical and online experience, the hackathon will be broadcasted from a live studio while participants take part in the hackathon from home. Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will share opening remarks on the last day of the event and cover topics around fostering the innovative spirit of youths in light of Covid-19.

With Covid-19 ravaging 2020 and negatively impacting economies across the globe, the future seems uncertain for young people in Singapore and around the world. With that in mind, “Tomorrow” is the theme of SWSG 2020, challenging participants to address some of the region’s biggest challenges impacting the future of work, vulnerable populations (particularly youths and seniors), mental health, the environment and sustainability.

Durwin Ho, Director of Startup Weekend Singapore, said, “Our generation is heading into some of the toughest times as we combat global unemployment, face the highest levels of suicide rates amongst youths, see a greater disparity between the rich and the poor, and continue an uphill battle in the push to fight against climate change. Despite this, we believe in the humanity of our youth, and we want to support our youth to step up, come together to solve these pressing challenges, and build solutions for the future of tomorrow.”

For this edition of SWSG, some notable judges and mentors include Alvin Tan (Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth), David Chua (CEO, National Youth Council), Jennifer Lewis (Head, Communications & Engagement, Temasek Foundation), Pieter Kemps (Principal, Sequoia Capital) and Adrian Pang (Artistic Director, Pangdemonium) among others.

The non-profit, volunteer-led hackathon is run by the same team behind StartupX, the startup and innovation enabler that also runs multiple startup and innovation programmes such as HyperX, the world’s first sustainability-focused hackathon in partnership with Temasek, HDB Ideas Hack and the Housing Development Board. These programmes are part of StartupX’s mission to support early-stage innovation and provide teams coming out of SWSG with opportunities to take their ideas further.

Tune in to SWSG 2020 live-stream videos, here.