About the Event:

Singapore, 31 March 2011 – ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’ is back and it is bigger than ever! Following the overwhelming response received during the inaugural ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’ in 2010, the entrepreneurial-enabler platform spearheaded by Martell V.S.O.P. returns for the second year with major developments. This time, it offers the winning business idea a 1,400 square foot storefront in the bustling Central Business District area and a year’s rent fully sponsored by Martell V.S.O.P.

After catapulting the dream of Cherilyn Tan and Jamie Koh, the winning pair of 2010 ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’, into a reality with the opening of The Chupitos Bar in Clarke Quay, the world renowned cognac brand continues its search for the next big business idea from an aspiring local entrepreneur. Apart from the winner walking away with a total prize reward worth over S$169,000 (inclusive of S$20,000 start-up capital), the top ten finalists of ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’ 2011 will receive business management training from INSEAD, one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools.

‚The 200 over entries submitted last year were very impressive and have set a high benchmark on the judges’ expectations for this year. With last year’s success, the team at Martell has been given a mammoth challenge to surpass what was achieved and I am proud of what the team has put together. This year, we have chosen a space located on Boon Tat Street, a location that is rich in heritage and culture and I believe it will put the creativity of our aspiring entrepreneurs to test. I’d expect the winning idea to be one that best brings out the geographic uniqueness of the area,‛ said Mr Paul-Robert Bouhier, Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Singapore.

Submissions will be judged by a panel of experts and the winning idea will be selected based on originality, ingenuity and the potential to succeed. New to this year’s competition is an online social commerce concept known as crowdfunding, which will allow members of the general public to influence this year’s results by pledging funds for their favourite idea out of the top ten entries. Crowdfunding will contribute to 20 percent of the top ten finalists’ total score. Sitting on the panel of judges this year are two of Singapore’s most successful entrepreneurs who will also act as mentors to the finalists – Mr Jimmy Fong, Chief Executive Offiver of EpiCentre, and MR Low Cheong Kee, Managing Director of Home-Fix D.I.Y.

Taking on the role of a ‘dreams incubator’, Martell V.S.O.P. will be providing the top ten finalists with training from industry leaders, arming them with the knowledge essential to run a viable business with the help of strategic support from INSEAD, the official partner of ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’. INSEAD will be providing an intensive one-week business training course to the top ten finalists, as well as additional training for the 2011 winner of ‘The Ultimate Start-up Space’.

Commenting on INSEAD’s involvement in nurturing a new group of entrepreneurs, Miklos Sarvary, Dean of Executive Education said: ‚As a leading international business school that believes in the role of business as a force for improving lives, INSEAD has a proud legacy of nurturing global business leaders who create value for their organisations and communities. Our values underscore the entrepreneurial spirit by encouraging innovation, experimentation and calculating risk taking, which is what Martell’s campaign is about. Through this partnership, we hope to cultivate the entrepreneurial spark in Singaporeans by having them step up and take on the challenge of having to run their own business – a tough but rewarding process.‛