Excited! A new entrepreneurial reality Show!
If you’re a big fan of shows like Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank where venture capitalists either destroy or bring alive the ideas of entrepreneurs on TV and , then you’ll be as excited as me!!
The Angel’s Gate is Asia’s very own version of such entrepreneurial programs
The format of these shows are similar — entrepreneurs will get a chance to impress the top angel investors in Asia and receive an investment from them.
Comprising the panel of judges for Angel’s Gate TV are Dr Finian Tan, Founder of Vickers Financial Group; Karan Singh Thakral, Executive Director of the Thakral Group of Companies (a veteran entrepreneur in consumer electronics) ; Ken Mandel, Founder of Jam Ventures ( branding and marketing guru); Patrick Grove, Co-founder and CEO of Catcha Group (ranked one of Asia’s best young entrepreneurs); and William Klippgen, Founder and Managing Director of Tigris Capital.
They’re all decked in spiffy white suits — in keeping with the show’s name, but don’t be fooled into thinking that they’ll always be nice and smiley. This is a reality show after all, and the judges are there not just to dispense wisdom, but also to entertain and provoke.
And see which entrepreneur has guts and resolve.
Angel’s Gate takes reality-based programming beyond the television set and into a whole new level. It is produced by Asia’s leading digital media company and new business accelerator, Interactive SG, and supported by Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA).
Anyway, while the show’s format is familiar, there are some important innovations too. Ash Singh, founder and CEO of InteractiveSG, the company that created the show, says Angel’s Gate is taking a 360 degrees approach. Besides television, the show will come to life on both the web and mobile.
Angel’s Gate targets enterprising individuals who believe they have the next big business idea and want a shot at securing public support and funding. “Angel’s Gate aims to help entrepreneurs find co-founders and mentors, as well as project backers through our crowd funding platform. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs lower their over-all time to market by providing them with the impetus to succeed,” says Ash Singh, Founder and CEO of Interactive SG.
Angel’s Gate will be delivered to audiences globally, targeting a combined viewership of 100 million. Available on mobile platforms, Angel’s Gate also lets users view videos, participate and connect with a network of entrepreneurs on the move.
According to Ash, the 360-degree approach aims to create a new playing field for aspiring entrepreneurs: “Entrepreneurs involved in Angel’s Gate will receive more exposure than they could by any other means, empowering them through the use of technology and the media. Over and above delivering unparalleled reach and visibility, the vision behind Angel’s Gate is to create a level playing field for the aspiring entrepreneurs of this generation. We might just see the rise of the next Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump or Richard Branson from Asia,” he says.
The AngelsGate.com website went live on October 14; and more than a hundred business ideas have been submitted. The most compelling and well received ideas will advance to Angel’s Gate TV, which is set to start airing in the coming months on a regional broadcast partner.
Another thing that sets the show apart from others is that entrepreneurs can sign up on the website to canvass for votes and source for crowd-funding, which works on an all-or-nothing system. They can even seek team members online.Entrepreneurs who believe they have what it takes can submit their business ideas to AngelsGate.com. There, they can leverage their social graph (through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to crowd-source support for their ideas. They can even raise financial support through AngelsGate.com.
The most popular entries will then appear on the show, where they’ll to pitch to the Angels, who’ll decide on the spot if they should receive an investment from the AngelFund. Entrepreneurs that get rejected can refine their business idea and resubmit it through the website.
The deadline for this round of submissions is 31st October.
Apart from business funding, entrepreneurs will also be offered an opportunity to think about how they can make a meaningful contribution to society through philanthropy and corporate citizenship. Angel’s Gate has partnered CapitaLand Hope Foundation as the programme’s charity sponsor. Through the partnership, underprivileged children will benefit when entrepreneurs garner support for their business ideas. CapitaLand Hope Foundation will donate S$1 to selected children’s charities for every ‘Facebook Like’ gathered by entrepreneurs for their respective business ideas on AngelsGate.com, and winning entrepreneurs on Angel’s Gate TV will get to earn bonus donations from the Foundation to benefit the children beneficiaries.
Mr Lim Chin Beng, Chairman of CapitaLand Hope Foundation, said: “CapitaLand Hope Foundation is pleased to partner with Angel’s Gate in contributing towards the welfare of underprivileged children. The partnership’s aim to integrate business success and philanthropy provides a meaningful and holistic perspective to entrepreneurship. The Foundation looks forward to playing its part in nurturing future business leaders who share our commitment and support for programmes for the shelter, education and healthcare needs of underprivileged children.”
Angel’s Gate is supported by global brands BlackBerry, SingTel, NUS Business School, Audi, Canon, Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Skype, Sony, Focus Media, Fitness First, Intuit, Rice Communications, and partners including the ArtScience Museum, Business Angels Network SEA (BANSEA), Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SVCA), Singapore Tourism Board, SingTel Innov8, SPRING Singapore and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Singapore.
Viewers can expect a total of eight TV episodes, which will launch in January, as well as 30 webisodes, which will be made available on YouTube.
Ash has big dreams for Angel’s Gate. He has set a target of reaching out to over 100 million viewers, including at least 500,000 aspiring entrepreneurs and 10,000 applicants. So far, about 30 percent of participants are Singaporeans, another 30 percent are PRs and expats in Singapore, with the remaining coming from the rest of the world.
Where ever the participants are from, I’m sure the judges and viewers are looking forward to brilliant pitches that will set the screen on fire. If this show takes off, it could go some way in promoting entrepreneurship in Asia and beyond.
More local entrepreneurs on TV pls.. Hoping for more industries-entrepreneurs though. - from more Asian countries in Retail, Entertainment, Social, Service, Manufacturing etc -
E.g. (Singapore) Founders of 77th street ; Nuffnang.com ; Hyflux ; The Butter Factory; Sample Store etc
E.g (Malaysia) Kuok Group ; Air Asia; Secret Recipe
E.g. (India) Tata ; Hafa Foods ; Foursquare; Mycityway etc
Lets see how this show goes.
Hope there are exciting ideas to be showcase.
Few if the ideas on Dragon Den that were interesting
Freedom Food range: Very Touching young mother who came up with the idea for her child. Now she still continues her freedom food range and does public speaking.
The Vintage Patisserie . Their website is so fun and quirky and really captures the imagination.
