Ubisoft, French video game company and publisher of popular games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, has just announced that it is expanding the fourth season of its startup programme ‘Ubisoft Entrepreneurs Lab’ to Singapore.
This year’s edition of the programme will be held at both startup campus Station F in Paris, France, as well as PIXEL, an innovation space in Singapore managed by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA).
The aim of expanding the programme to Asia, said Ubisoft, was so that it “will be able to support and reach out to more entrepreneurs around the world working on innovative technologies to help shape the future of entertainment”.
Said Catherine Seys, Start-up Program Director at Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab: “We are now heading into our fourth season of our start-up program at Station F in Paris, and are very happy to extend the Ubisoft Entrepreneurs Lab to Singapore.”
“Ubisoft Singapore has been established for more than 10 years, and from what we already know of the region we are confident that its vibrant local tech ecosystem and strong talent pool are key ingredients for budding start-ups.”
Added Mr Howie Lau, Chief Industry Development Officer at IMDA: “We are excited about partnering with Ubisoft in this new initiative. […] This collaboration will enable participating start-ups in Singapore and the region to access IMDA PIXEL’s facilities and local programs, as well as to access Ubisoft’s global resources and mentorship to develop innovative solutions for the entertainment sector.”
Selected startups will be enrolled into a 6-month personalised programme where they will get to interact with experts from Ubisoft and also partners in the firm’s international network.
The mentor of this year’s season is Serge Hascoet, Chief Creative Officer at Ubisoft.
Startups will be able to choose from two tracks which will focus on two themes:
- The exploration of the links between Blockchain technology and entertainment, in the continuity of the previous seasons;
- Extended entertainment services: innovative services with the goal of improving entertainment experiences before, during and after gaming sessions.
Ubisoft’s communication director for Singapore Sylviane Bahr told CNA in an email that the “help and access to expertise (in the programme) doesn’t stop at ‘hard skills’ but extends to non-technical aspects like marketing, finance and communications”.
She added that Ubisoft aims to get “two or three startups enrolled here”.
Startups interested in the programme can apply for it via this link.
