Over $1 million in seed funding handed out to upcoming youth entrepreneurs at Sandbox Somerset

Over a million dollars worth of seed funding was handed out to outstanding business ideas by upcoming youth entrepreneurs during the inaugural Sandbox Somerset at Somerset Youth Park.

Run over two weekends from Nov 25 to Dec 4, the event was organised by Invade in partnership with the Somerset Belt Office under the National Youth Council (NYC).

It is also a part of Somerfest, a key festival at the Somerset Belt that celebrates the aspirations of youths with activities and presentations of youth-led projects. 

Sandbox Somerset was attended by around 2,000 budding youth entrepreneurs who took part in 16 panel discussions with 46 panellists sharing about their entrepreneurial journey. 

It included two shark tank-style pitching events conducted at Sandbox Somerset, where over $1 million worth of investment by SEED Ventures was won by promising new start-ups. A total of eight companies pitched for various funding over the two sessions. 

Sandbox Somerset featured 100 Sandbox Somerset Youth Founders spanning across the creative, retail, and F&B industries.

The 100 Sandbox Somerset Youth Founders List is meant to celebrate the milestones of these founders and serve as a platform to enable and feature these founders as the next generation of industry leaders.

More well-known entrepreneurs include Rachel Lim of Love, Bonito and Adrian Ang (more popularly known as Xiao Ming) of SGAG.

Nominations are now open for the next batch of Sandbox Somerset Youth Founders as well. They will get to share their stories and innovations with budding youth entrepreneurs through various platforms including network sharing, pop-up opportunities, panel programmes, and mentorship.

Nominees will be evaluated based on various guidelines including being 35 years old and below, having been in a successful business for more than a year, or having an annual revenue of more than $500,000.