Applications update & startup events

​It's been a busy travel schedule for the Betatron team over the last couple of weeks. Several of us have been on the road, visiting a variety of startup conferences and diving into their ecosystems.

SaaStock (Hong Kong)

It was great to see SaaStock bringing their conference to Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. Arshad Chowdhury (our Entrepreneur in Residence) was on the judging panel for the pitch event alongside Roland Yau (Managing Partner of CoCoon Ignite Ventures & Founding Partner of Betatron). 

Arshad commented, "SaaStock was rich in potential investment opportunities. These companies are focused on working business models that can be more capital efficient than, say, ride sharing and social sites. We invited at least 5 companies to apply to Betatron and are fast-tracking the due diligence process for at least one of these strong candidates."


TNW (Amsterdam)

I flew off to The Next Web's TNW conference which brought together an interesting mix of startups from around Europe. I wasn't surprised to see lot's of impressive tech talent continuing to emerge from Eastern Europe. It was my first startup conference in Europe for quite some time, so it was interesting to see the contrast between the Asian/European startup scenes.


VivaTechnology (Paris)

To be honest, Paris and the Viva Technology conference far exceeded my expectations - the enormous venue, the impressive (no expense spared!) production, and the quality of speakers (none more so than the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, kicking it off with a passionate speech).

Paris has a fascinating ecosystem - one where culture, fashion and brand value has an important part to play in everything that goes on. One of the highlights has to be the private dinner I was lucky enough to get invited to with Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands. Really cool and down-to-earth guy, who's on a mission to connect Europe's startup ecosystems together.


Colission (Toronto)

Matthias Knobloch (our Managing Director) jetted over to Toronto for Colission Conf. Produced by the team behind RISE and Web Summit, I wasn't surprised to hear it was another great event with a host of top speakers in attendance.


Echelon (Singapore)

As an investor, Echelon was probably one of the best-structured conferences I've been to. I was a judge at their Top100 pitch competition - which had 100 x 3-minute pitches from startups around SE Asia.

3-minutes is the perfect amount of time to quickly assess a startups' potential. A 5-minute pitch is often too long - that's 2-minutes wasted, which adds up.  100 x 2 minutes = 200 minutes (3.3 hours)!


Upcoming Schedule

Up next, I'll be attending London Tech Week (10-14 June) and Techsauce in Bangkok (19-20 June).

If you'll be there, let me know!

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How to get the most out of a conference?

I've had quite a few startups recently ask me how to make the most of every conference they attend. The answers sound quite basic, and everyone probably knows them already, but remembering to do them is often key.


1. Do your homework and reach out beforehand 

Get access to the conference's attendee list (every conference should be able to provide you with one), whether that's through their app or networking platform. Figure out who you want to meet and reach out around one week before the event. 

Reaching out a day or two beforehand is too late. Most attendees will be travelling, won't see your message, and won't get back to you in time.


2. Post on social media that you'll be attending

About five days beforehand, share with your network (especially on LinkedIn) that you'll be attending. You never know who else might be going. The more connections you have at an event, the easier it is to network. 

Also, find out the conference's hashtag and include it in your social media post. It will help to increase your post's organic reach (attendees often search for the hashtag before and during the event) and quite often the conference will retweet/share it.


3. Reach out to the organizers and offer to help

Maybe they need an extra panellist for a talk or a speaker just dropped out and you could step in. Participating in a conference really helps. You get access to invite-only afterparties and gives you the chance to promote whatever you're working on for free. And maybe next year, you'll get invited by the organizers and get your tickets, hotel and travel for free.


4. Exchange contact details straight away with people you meet

Everyone is at these conferences to network and build something. Exchange cards/scan on WeChat/LinkedIn straight away soon after meeting someone. You never know when your conversation will be broken up and you'll lose the opportunity.


5. Attend the afterparties and side events

Talking to someone about nothing to do with work, with a beer in your hand, is the best way to build connections at these conferences. Don't make the mistake and skip the side events because you're too tired. Sleep on the plane home! :)
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Applications Update

We opened applications for Cohort #5 a couple of weeks ago and have already started reviewing the ones which have been submitted.

As a reminder, here's what you need to know.


The Investment

• Betatron will be investing up to US$150,000 in each startup.
• We will provide your startup with free office space for the duration of the three-month program in Hong Kong.
• Our network allocates hundreds of hours of hands-on mentorship and support for each startup.
• The focus of the program is 1) accelerating business growth 2) fast-tracking each startup to their next funding round.

The Timeline

• Applications close on Thursday 18th July 2019 at midnight.
• APPLY EARLY. We review each application immediately after they are submitted. The earlier you submit, the higher the chances being accepted.
• The Cohort #5 program is set to launch on 16th September 2019, with it finishing on 16th December 2019.

The Application Process

• After you submit your application, our team will review and determine if you make it to the next round.
• Here's a look at our selection process: 
  (1) Application submitted/reviewed
  (2) A short interview with the Betatron team
  (3) Interview & pitch session with investment committee (5 mins pitch + 10 mins Q&A)
  (4) Due diligence (1-hour session + document checklist to be submitted)
  (5) Final offers sent.
• We conduct due diligence sessions on each of the companies before giving them a final offer, this is the last stage of our process.

To apply, please visit betatron.co/apply 

We look forward to receiving your application.

If you have any questions, email me (sam@betatron.co) and let me know.

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About the Author

Sam Ameen is the Director of Marketing for Betatron and is passionate about helping startups scale online using unique growth hacking and user acquisition strategies. Sam is also a contributor to a number of publications including Forbes & Tech In Asia and regularly shares his thoughts on the startup and investment world in Asia.