SAL LAUNCHES ASIA’S FIRST LEGAL TECH ACCELERATOR
Spearheaded by the Future Law Innovation Programme, GLIDE will drive innovation in Singapore’s legal sector.
From this week, the Singapore Academy of Law (“SAL”)’s Future Law Innovation Programme (“FLIP”) welcomes applications for GLIDE (Global Legal Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship), Asia’s first accelerator targeting legal tech start-ups. Both local and international founders of early stage start-ups in this field are invited to apply to the programme at flip.org.sg/glide.
The three-month programme is open to start-ups in the legal, compliance and regulation tech fields. It is especially suited for firms that dabble in technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, advanced analytics, and automated data collection and analysis. Applying start-ups should have at least a working prototype and be at either a pre-revenue or post-first revenue stage. Successful applicants will be notified in July.
“GLIDE is SAL’s latest effort to drive legal tech in Singapore and strengthen innovation in the legal sector,” explained Ms Serene Wee, Chief Executive of SAL. “SAL wants to serve as a bridge between the tech and legal industries, to ensure that products and services are developed with the legal industry’s needs in mind, helping the sector ready for the future.”
AN ACCELERATOR DONE DIFFERENTLY
Unlike traditional accelerators, SAL will not automatically take equity in participating start-ups. “Participants will take part in paid learning and mentorship opportunities from SAL. Armed with these, they will be able to better pitch and position their products and services to a variety of investors that may include SAL,” explained Mr Paul Neo, SAL’s Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Director of SAL Ventures, which runs FLIP.
Other unique features of GLIDE include:
· VIRTUAL ACCELERATION: Tapping on technology to create a hassle-free experience, GLIDE offers maximum value with minimal disruption to the start-ups. In this vein, it will be a virtual accelerator that uses social learning and a hybrid approach combining face-to-face and remote interactions to guide participants on their start-up journey.
· LEARNING THE ROPES: Participants will also be plugged into FLIP’s programmes that boost productivity and efficiency. “Start-ups can tap on our resources for incorporation, legal, accounting and regional expansion through dedicated workshops,” added Mr Neo. “Regular networking sessions will also expose them to the who’s who of the legal industry and provide access to various stakeholders in Singapore’s legal, regulatory and tech ecosystems.”
· ALWAYS ON: GLIDE will also adopt an always-on approach, which means that it will host start-ups all year-round. This aligns with FLIP’s vision that innovation does not have an end-date and that the best ideas could spring up at any time. Similarly, start-ups will be groomed to meet their own targets, whatever those may be. “We will not dictate what their starting points or end goals should be, but we would like to help promising firms get to their desired goal,” said Mr Neo.