About Us
The rise in demand for water, increasing operational costs required to manage water systems, manpower constraints and the impact of climate change poses challenges for water management. Having access to digital solutions can help water systems improve operational excellence. Through the Digital Water Hackathon, we hope to:
- Create high potential startups and SMEs with capabilities to solve issues in the digital water space
- Create and identify a talent pool for digital water technology.
The Digital Water Hackathon is organised by Ripple2Wave Incubator (R2WI) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), and supported by A*START Central, Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Public Utilities Board (PUB).
hackathon categories
Entry
- For first time entrepreneurs (fresh graduates and mid career professionals) looking to solve problems in the digital water sector.
- Solution proposed is at the conceptual stage, TRL < 3
Funding
- SUSS Venture Builder Traineeship Programme of Monthly Stipends $1500 for 3 months
- SG Founder's Grant
Technology
- Leverage on pre-identified relevant A*STAR and IPI Technology IPs
- Complimentary Alibaba Cloud Credits
Market / Customers
- Build a Digital Water Solution with real industry problem statements and feedback in 3 months
Advanced
- Local and global teams with existing solutions ready to be deployed.
- Solution proposed is at POC-ready to be deployed stage, TRL 4 and above.
Technology
- Leverage on pre-identified relevant A*STAR and IPI Technology IPs
- Complimentary Alibaba Cloud Credits
Market / Customers
- Build a Digital Water Solution with real industry problem statements and feedback in 3 months
Prizes
SGD 50,000 Startup SG Founder Grant
*Subject to fulfilment of Startup SG Founder eligibility criteria.
Up to USD5,000 Alibaba Cloud Credits
SGD 250,000 Potential R&D Funding
Potential Fast Track to she1K C-Shark Tank Finalist
Potential POC Deals
Global Outreach
Ecosystem Exposure
Mentorship and Industry Network
Timeline
Registration
Bootcamp
Deep Mentoring
Demo Day @ Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2021
Programme Details
Stage 1: Training and Workshops |
---|
Dec 2020 | The training will take place across 5 days for an average of 6 hours per day |
---|---|
Dec 2020 | The training will take place across 5 days for an average of 6 hours per day |
Day 1 | Registration of Participants and Icebreaking Master Class on Digital Water Introduction to Problem Statements Team Formation |
Day 2 | Actor Mapping Master Class on Digital Water Ideation and Stakeholders Interview Group Discussion |
Day 3 | Value Proposition Canvas Master Class on Digital Water Solution MVP Group Discussion + Mentoring |
Day 4 | Solution Testing Group Discussion + Mentoring Pitch Deck Preparation |
Day 5 | Group Discussion + Mentoring Pitch and Wrap up: Teams to share what they have learnt |
Stage 2: Deep Mentoring and Demo Day For all selected teams only (~ 10-15 teams) |
---|
1st Jan to 30th Mar 2021 | Mentoring Selected teams will do a weekly check-in with domain experts, business mentors and observers from SUSS/r2wii, where they will continue to refine their ideas and work on a prototype |
31st Mar 2021 | Demo Day Teams will pitch to problem statement owners, investors and industry players |
Stage 3: Incubation Support For all selected teams only |
---|
1st Apr 2021 Onwards | Incubation Support Pre-Seed/Seed Stage teams can go throughht incubation programme with appointed incubator |
Stage 4: Acceleration Support For all selected teams only |
---|
1st Apr 2021 Onwards | Acceleration Support Series A-B teams can go through accelerator programme with appointed accelerator |
Schedule of Events
Day 1: 15th May
Time | Title | Description |
---|---|---|
10:00am | Welcome and Opening Address | Limeng (CEO, Razer Fintech) will welcome participants and kick off the Hackathon in
earnest. |
10:30am | Programme Rundown and Q&A | Eduard (CTO, Razer Fintech) will provide a brief overview of hackathon content and deliverables, similar to the information packs received by all participants, followed by a short Q&A |
11:00am | Hackathon Kick-Off | Event starts! |
11:00am | Mambu Presentation | A quick introduction to core banking, as well as a walkthrough on Mambu’s APIs and console for interested participants. |
11:30am | Visa Presentation | Visa will cover information on their Dev Portal, and a number of recommended APIs for use in the Hackathon. |
12:00pm | Perx Technologies Presentation | Perx Technologies will introduce their gamification platform, APIs and console |
4:00pm – 6:00pm | AMAs on Discord and/or Telegram | Check-in and troubleshooting, available for all teams. |
Watch It Live
Get your popcorn, sit back, relax and stay connected on Facebook.
Our main event will be broadcasted on these platforms, so do check back at these links to watch the live event streams from (31 March 2021).
Mentors

Christina Teo
Chief Builder
she1K

Dr Long Yin
Solutions Architect
Alibaba Cloud

Dr Oh Ser Wah
Founder & CEO
Whizspace

Jasmijn Büskens
Engineer
Demcon

Stéphanie Groen
Director
Aurecon

Rusydi Khairul
Founder & CEO
Reactor School

Bryan Long
Founder
Testing Ground

Chia Chee Yong
VP, Digital Ecosystems Partnerships & Portfolio Management (UOB)

Frank Lee
Managing Director
Tech JDI

Eric Tan
Account Director
The Resource Group

Oh Yi Kuan
Process Engineer
Suntar International

Powell Qu
Business Analyst
Suntar International

Raymond Choong
Venture Partner
Focustech Ventures
Judging Criteria

Solution Fit

Innovation

Commercial Viability

Team & Delivery
Judges

Helge Daebel
Investment Director (Water)
Emerald Technology Ventures

Jeremy Heng
Managing Director
VFT Ventures
Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to Ripple2wave’s inaugural Digital Water Hackathon! An exceptional opportunity for global and local audiences to come together and work on Singapore’s digital water problem statements coming from the water industry. Build your company, scale to greater heights and use this platform in Singapore to build your business case.
The Digital Water Programme is open to those who are interested in technology innovation for the water sector and have an interesting project or other idea to develop within the scope of the challenges proposed.
Participation in the Digital Water Programme is open to individuals aged 18 or older. You can apply individually or as a team of minimum 3 and maximum 5 people. If you are an individual applicant, you will be required to form into teams by the second day of the 5-day bootcamp, either on you own or with the help of the event organisers.
The winning team will be selected by a jury made up of industry experts from the water and digital sector; and professionals such as VCs and business veterans.
The jury will analyse and evaluate all works presented by the team according to the following four evaluation criteria: Solution Fit (25%), Innovation (25%), Commercial Viability (25%), Team (15%), Delivery (10%)
Intellectual Property (IP) rights refers to patents, utility models, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trademarks and service marks, trade names and domain names, right in get-up, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off or unfair competition, rights in designs, rights in computer software, database rights, rights to preserve confidentiality of information (including know-how and trade secrets). It can also include any applications for (and rights to apply for and be granted) renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist, now or in the future, in any part of the world.
- During Application
As a problem solver, if you would like to share intellectual property rights which may contribute to the value proposition of the solution, it will be advisable to consider getting appropriate legal advice prior to making any disclosures in your application.
Please be aware that r2wi will not require the disclosure of any confidential information or obligations of confidentiality from any individual or entity involved in the process.
- Will I as Problem Solver retain my Intellectual Property rights?
Each Problem Owner has a preferred IP arrangement for their challenge, which is also reflected under the respective Problem Statement Terms.
After the selection of the team(s) into the deep mentoring phase and prior to the development of the POC/Prototype, the Problem Solver and Problem Owner can enter into a new agreement governing the terms of the POC/Prototype. If necessary, IP workshops can also be provided to guide Problem Solvers on IP arrangements.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to read through the specific terms and conditions of each problem statement before applying.
- What Intellectual Property rights will Problem Owners have?
Problem Owners have to acknowledge the Problem Solver ownership of IP rights, and all IP created from Problem Solver’s work on the Problem Statement is to be owned by the Problem Solver. However, Problem Owner may propose IP and exclusivity positions with the selected team(s) before proceeding further into the deep mentoring phase which may include development, testing and evaluation of the solution proposed.
- General IP Guidelines
The background IP (for eg. datasets, information and materials) provided by the Problem Owner will belong to the problem statement owner. The Problem Owner may require the Problem Solver to sign a Non-disclosure agreement before the release of such background IP.
The background IP proposed and/or provided by the Problem Solver will reside with the Problem Solver as this is what they bring forward as part of their application and participation in the digital water hackathon.
Any technology/product development that may result in the creation of foreground IP will be undertaken by the Problem Owner and Problem Solver.
No. We will accept applications from all background It is sufficient to have interest in the digital water sector. However, you are expected to bring valuable skillsets to contribute to a viable business team, and bring ideas into reality.
Yes, we do! Initially, we welcome participants from all countries to join our Digital Water Programme. The 5-day bootcamp is a hybrid (physical + live conference) event in Singapore, with the intent to help individual applicants to form teams to build their solution value proposition. For overseas teams, you will probably find Day 0 useful from the more in-depth sharing of the digital water landscape, problem statements, and Q&A with the problem statement owners.
Teams that are selected into the deep mentoring stage will have 1-1 access to business and technical mentors, as well as to domain experts from the problem statement owners. Use these sessions to refine your solution, impress the problem statement owners and the stakeholders around you. You will know if you are onto something big in the process, and towards demo day.
Participants must bring their own computers, ID cards and other tools they may need (charging device, mouse, keyboard, USB flash drive, etc). Most importantly bring on your passion to create!
Definitely! We welcome existing startups and SMEs to leverage on our business and technical mentors to refine their existing solutions solving the problem statements of our stakeholders.
If your questions are not addressed in our FAQs, kindly reach out to us at info@digitalwaterhackathon.com