After a year of delay, Singapore will launch a startup accelerator focused on legal technology in April, the first of its kind in Asia, according to the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL). The accelerator is designed to place the city-state at the forefront of technology and innovation in Asia's legal sector.
This entity is the second attempt by the Future Law Innovation Program (FLIP), a two-year pilot program initiated by SAL, to launch a legal tech startup accelerator. Initially, Accelerate! which was the first accelerator was supposed to launch in July 2018, but was shelved by FLIP because of a need for a more streamlined program.
The new accelerator will also be launched by FLIP focusing on legal tech startups around the world that are interested in supporting the Singapore legal industry and use the city-state as the main office for future overseas expansion.
The program will be three to six months long, and Startups in the accelerator will be led by a mentor or go through a tailored curriculum. Experts in entrepreneurship and innovation will also support the accelerator, including Ash Singh, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship from INSEAD's Singapore campus, and Peter Dingle, head of business model innovation at HSBC. Both will provide mentorship support, local market knowledge and advise on strategies and management.
SAL and its FLIP program have also outreached to the courts, law firms and legal departments for potential mentors who can support the accelerator startups with industry knowledge, access to networks and data, and investment support.
Singapore places a high priority on legal tech, and the government has pushed the city-state to be the leader in legal sector innovation in Asia. This initiative will also mean that Singapore's law firms that have been slow in adopting new technologies, may change in the coming months.
