Oracle to lend a hand to start-ups here

United States-based multinational software company Oracle is launching a new start-up accelerator programme here.

Called Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator, the programme will provide early-stage tech companies with six months of mentoring by technical and business experts, access to technology, and link-ups with Oracle customers, partners and investors.

The programme first started in Bangalore and is now expanding to seven more cities, including Singapore. The others are Bristol, Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tel Aviv.

"The next five to 10 years promise innovations and growth that will drive new business ideas enabled by the cloud," said Oracle's senior vice-president of product development Reggie Bradford.

He told The Straits Times that the programme will be "very targeted" and will take in only a "small and select number" of companies.

Start-ups will receive mentorship from Oracle executives and be connected with "our customer base around the world".

"There is tremendous promise and opportunity in South-east Asia and we want to tap that," Mr Bradford said.

S'pore chapter of Women Who Code

Women Who Code, an international non-profit organisation which aims to help women excel in technology careers, has launched a Singapore chapter.

The group will host industry talks, hack nights, training seminars, conferences and other programmes to support tech professionals here.

Women Who Code Singapore already has more than 200 members.

"Given Singapore's vibrant banking technology landscape and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, there are ample opportunities for women to drive technology decisions at various levels in the companies here," said Ms Purnima Kamath, a network director at Women Who Code Singapore.

"A strong network that focuses on learning and building different skill sets will help more women realise these opportunities. Women Who Code Singapore is setting out to do exactly that," added Ms Kamath, who is also vice-president for client and content technology at Credit Suisse.

Women Who Code describes itself as "building a world where women are proportionally representative as technical leaders, executives, founders, venture capitalists, board members and software engineers".

The organisation has a membership of over 80,000 and a presence in 20 countries.

Chia Yan Min