ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY News Release
December 27, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New ASU-SkySong partnership offers entrepreneurs global connections
A new collaborative agreement between Arizona State University’s (ASU) Enterprise Arizona Venture Center (EAVC) and iAxil, the business incubator arm of Asia’s leading business space provider, Ascendas, will create global opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
The agreement aims to facilitate the expansion of EAVC tenants into Asia by connecting them with iAxil’s resources, and vice versa.
iAxil has an impressive portfolio of innovative technology firms hosted at the Ascendas-owned Singapore Science Park – such as Scitech Medical, i-Web Technologies, and Greenscience Technology along with partners in Asia, Europe, Australia, and India.
EAVC, a unit located SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, offers mentoring, networking, and educational opportunities and flexible office and meeting space. The EAVC specifically serves global businesses interested in expanding operations into the U.S. and U.S. businesses seeking to expand and explore collaborative opportunities.
Much like EAVC, iAxil supports and grows ventures into commercially viable businesses. Known as a one-stop center for entrepreneurs and start-ups, iAxil provides access to venture capital, business planning, financial modeling, market intelligence, deal structuring, recruitment of talent, branding, access to international markets and quick start-up space.
“ASU is thrilled to establish a partnership with a dynamic and forward thinking organization like iAxil,” said Julia Rosen, ASU’s assistant vice president for Economic Affairs. The opportunity for local SkySong companies to take advantage of this channel to enter the Asian market will be an important addition to the offerings of the EAVC. Likewise, we know that many companies that iAxil supports can take advantage of SkySong as a platform to enter and grow within the US and the Americas.”
iAxil is owned by Ascendas, who owns and operates business parks in Singapore, China, India, the Philippines and South Korea.
Having worked with more than 200 start-up companies since 1994, iAxil is well-established in Singapore and ASU anticipates a stream of opportunities resulting from the partnership. iAxil currently has over 60 technology firms in their portfolio at the Singapore Science Park with tremendous potential. They believe their SkySong relationship will enable them to facilitate US market penetration for these firms.
Sinomem Technology Ltd and Pharmesis International Ltd, both listed on the Singapore Exchange, are two highly successful iAxil assisted firms. Sinomem is the leading membrane separation and purification solutions supplier for China’s pharmaceutical and fermentation industries. Pharmesis specializes in the research and development, sale and marketing of Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine formulated products for the treatment of illnesses relating to the liver and gall bladder.
“IAxil is a well-connected venture accelerator and we have no doubt that our partnership with SkySong will be a tremendous value to other EAVC tenants,” said Mr. Chew Mun Hou, vice president for Ascendas’ Business Network & Incubators and head of iAxil. As a comprehensive, one-stop shop – iAxil provides our ventures ready access to the US market and opportunities to network, collaborate and build relationships with superb expertise in an efficient manner.”
iAxil has established partnerships with other like-minded technology and R&D parks and incubation centers around the world to facilitate regular forums and global exchange among respective tenants. These include Technopolis in Finland, Heidelberg Technology Park in Germany, and Tsinghua Business Incubator in Beijing, China.
iAxil:
For more information on iAxil, visit www.iaxil.net.
ASU/SkySong:
ASU is aggressively developing relationships with institutions, businesses and entrepreneurs around the world as part of its strategy to make SkySong a place where global businesses locate and collaborate with Arizona firms and university innovators.
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The Enterprise Arizona Venture Center is an ASU unit located at SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center. SkySong is a mixed-use development that will consist of 1.2 million SF of research, office and retail space in addition to residential units on the site. Located at the intersection of Scottsdale and McDowell Roads—between downtown Scottsdale and the ASU Main campus in Tempe—SkySong will combine technology, innovation, education and business in a collaborative environment that integrates state-of-the-art digital infrastructure into flexible office and research space. Organized around a grand boulevard lined by retail, restaurants and cultural institutions, SkySong will serve the needs of residents, businesses, research and technology industry and academia while building vital networks between university innovations, regional progress and the global technology industry. For more information, visit http://www.skysongcenter.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Karen Leland
ASU Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs
480-965-0013
karen.leland@asu.edu