SINGAPORE (Sept 15): Singapore’s first start-up accelerator, Joyful Frog Digital Incubator (JFDI), has shuttered its accelerator programme for good according to a blog post by co-founder Hugh Mason.

Since its inception in 2011, JFDI has invested in 70 start-ups and raised S$3 million from various venture capitalists and angel investors, including Infocomm Investments.

One of the factors in its closure is the inability to sustain itself, according to Mason. He cited longer periods to exits and lower valuations compared to the US. Corporate sponsorships also brought its challenges, while revenue generation from co-working was tough, due to the availability of free spaces.

“So any accelerator trying to sustain itself independently will find it very tough going in this part of the world,” says Mason.

Other factors such as high costs, tight market for tech talent and restricted immigration also tempered the ease of doing and financing businesses in the region.

As for the future, co-founder Wong Meng Weng has accepted a fellowship at Harvard Law School to develop his start-up Legalese — utilising software to help write legal contracts — a spin-off from JFDI.

Mason will be remaining with JFDI to explore new models to create new partnerships with corporations and start-ups, most of which are still under non-disclosure agreements, according to him.