A 4,000 sq ft youth co-working space was launched at *Scape in Orchard Link yesterday.
Located on the fourth storey of youth hangout *Scape, next to Cineleisure shopping mall, the space will be able to accommodate some 120 young entrepreneurs who can use it to brainstorm new ideas, hold project meetings and network with collaborators.
Previously, the space - called HubQuarters - used to be a meeting area to support the entrepreneurial aspirations of young people. Workshops were held there to equip youth with the skills necessary to meet their aspirations.
About $350,000 was spent to revamp the space.
Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sim Ann, who launched the co-working space, said she was encouraged to see more and more young people venturing into entrepreneurship and coming up with new ideas to benefit society.
"They are learning through experimenting with ideas, sometimes seeing them fail, but then coming up with new and better ideas. They are learning how to turn workable ideas into concrete projects, and in doing so, learning what it takes to run a successful start-up, such as building networks of partners," she added.
*Scape, a non-profit organisation and youth hangout, said it does not have figures on the number of young entrepreneurs in Singapore.
It costs $280 a month, or $150 for social enterprises, to get a dedicated desk at HubQuarters.
Those who hotdesk pay $30 per person. Users must be Singapore residents aged between 15 and 35 and belong to a registered company. At co-working spaces elsewhere, it costs about $250 to $750 a month for a desk space.
Later this year, HubQuarters will be used for a six-month-long boot camp to equip participants with the skills and resources to create their own start-ups.
*Scape will also use its premises to hold the annual Start-up Weekend, one of the largest hackathons in Singapore, in September.
Mr Alexander McColl, 27, a project engineer, started using HubQuarters last month.
"We use it every week during the weekends because we need a meeting space. This is a casual environment and a convenient place for youth to gather because it is in town," he said.
