THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDENTS
SCHOOL : Lee Kong Chian School of Business Singapore Management University COUNTRY : Singapore
A student venture fund established by the Singapore Management University (SMU)’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) has invested S$25,000 (c $19k) in rocket propulsion firm Equatorial Space Systems (ESS). The Protégé Ventures (PV) fund has invested more than S$300,000 (c $230k) in 12 student start-ups since 2017, training 320 students as venture capital professionals and evaluating upwards of 1,300 deals. The fund gives students the chance to acquire crucial skills and experience while investing real capital in start-ups. Around 70 per cent of its members are said to have gone on to secure internship and full‑time placements across venture capital, financial services and start-ups. Recruiting from across Singapore’s universities, PV currently counts a number of undergraduate students from SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business among its managing partners and principals. One student central to the new funding deal was accountancy student and PV analyst Ryan Teo: “It was through PV that I had the opportunity to speak with industry experts from deep-tech VCs to satellite operators and attend the Global Space Technology Convention & Exhibition.” PV is one of a number of ways in which SMU IIE seeks to support the development of entrepreneurial skills. “This first investment by our student venture capitalists into an eco-friendly space propulsion start-up is a significant milestone,” remarked SMU IIE senior associate director Yasi Huo, adding that it demonstrated the fund’s “commitment to be at the forefront of trends and technology while championing innovations in sustainability.” The institute also runs a four-month coaching programme for early‑stage start-ups through its incubator and holds one of Asia’s biggest university‑led start-up competitions every two years. The last instalment of the latter, known as the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, attracted submissions from 1,100 universities based in 77 different countries and offered a total of more than S$2.5 million in prize money. TBD
Political marginalisation remains a major global issue and democratic governments are still dominated by well-educated, wealthy white men. Previous studies have primarily blamed underrepresented groups for lacking political ambition, but a new €1.5 million grant will allow Aarhus BSS associate professor Kristina Bakkær Simonsen to delve deeper into the cultural realities behind this phenomenon. Simonsen’s view is that political marginalisation persists because of the messages young people receive about their access to political power. “I want to direct our attention to the underlying norms that exist in a society and make a lasting imprint on us from a young age by shaping how some groups are seen – and see themselves – as natural in the political domain, whereas others aren’t recognised as fit for power,” she explained. The funding, received from the European Research Council, is a starting grant to propel the work of young researchers over five years and will support Simonsen’s project entitled The Paradox of Political Marginalisation: Young People and Political Power (YOPOW). The project seeks to demonstrate how stereotypes around politically powerful people shape political aspirations from a young age. Specifically, it will draw on machine-learning techniques to analyse how politicians are described to children at school, on social media and in educational materials. It will also conduct interviews with students and analyse recordings made in diary apps given to student council representatives and youth politicians to explore how different individuals experience and use political power. “Political marginalisation constitutes a major democratic problem: it biases decision-making, challenges democratic legitimacy and creates political alienation. The ultimate aim of YOPOW is to fundamentally change our understanding of political marginalisation as a phenomenon that takes root in early life and is relevant to all of us,” added Simonsen. EB POLITICAL MARGINALISATION RUNS DEEP, AS NEW PROJECT SEEKS TO DEMONSTRATE SCHOOL : Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences (Aarhus BSS) COUNTRY : Denmark
10 | Ambition | OCTOBER 2024
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