DMV Labs

DMV Labs is an accelerator for early-stage tech founders seeking to steward the power of business for the good of their neighbours and the renewal of culture. Through a high-touch programme, founders will have access to content taught from a Biblical worldview, support from fellow entrepreneurs, and mentoring from seasoned builders who believe in the power of redemptive entrepreneurship.

What can you expect from the programme?

Transformative Content

We will journey together through what it means to build a redemptive framework, as well as how to bring the principles to our operations. Founders will have the opportunity to discern areas where perhaps a recalibration to the master Builder Himself is needed, so that redemptive impact is achieved in a financially sustainable manner. Sessions will include:

Re/Frame

Our kick-off weekend will be spent exploring redemptive possibilities in an organizational setting, known as the Redemptive Frame. This will overlay the 3 Ways to Work (Exploitative, Ethical, Redemptive) with the 3 Dimensions of Work (Strategy, Operations, Leadership).

Product

How do we develop products, services, and experiences that genuinely benefit our customers, their communities, and the world, while thoughtfully minimising downside consequences, manipulative design, or sales practices that erode broader societal trust?

Branding

What does it mean to craft a brand through imagination and truth, advancing narratives of virtue and hope? How do we resist the urge to play to our customers’ desires, insecurity, or ego through marketing based on fear or status?

Culture

How do we build a team culture that helps people experience their work as neither ultimate nor transactional, but as purposeful and relational? Can we develop each person for and beyond their contribution to our mission, instead of treating them merely as resources to advance our organisation’s interests?

Business Model

What does it look like to grow a business that shares value with our customers and partners, considers social and environmental benefits and costs, while responsibly managing financial capital and profit that is essential to a lasting business?

Partnerships

How do we grow through partnerships of mutuality and integrity, avoiding a zero-sum view that only considers our own organisational priorities? What would it be like to treat our investors, suppliers, distributors, and all partners as we would like to be treated, considering the needs, pressures, and health of their businesses and communities?

Ambition

How might we surrender our personal ambition to God and seek first the good of others, not ourselves? What does it mean to cultivate gratitude, joy, and humility in the way we lead and serve, instead of privately yielding our desires to an accumulation of wealth, power, and prestige?

Spiritual Formation

We will integrate prayer, teaching, and other shared spiritual practices into the programme so that we grow in faith as we grow in leadership.

Mentorship

We specially recruit mentors who share our vision of journeying with and supporting each of our founders in their development. They are not only seasoned builders, professionals, and investors themselves, who can guide you with their experiences, but they will seek to care for you as a whole person. Mentors will also attend the kick-off sessions and remain available for contact throughout the course of the accelerator. Peer mentoring will also be a feature of DMV Labs, as it’s often fellow founders who have valuable experiences to bring to the table!

Programme Cycle

DMV Labs will run from 2 Sep to 26 Nov 2022, and will consist of:

3 onsite weekends (overnight stay from Friday evening to Sunday evening)
Teaching, personal reflection times, small-group discussions with fellow founders, and mentoring sessions
Support from the DMV team throughout the programme
A Showcase Day for founders to share about their redemptive visions with our wider community

Who Should Apply?

A founder who is:

Running an early-stage tech venture
Intentional about growing God’s Kingdom through a scalable model
Serious about embodying the gospel in products, services, and operations
Keen to collaborate with other missional companies

Programme Fees

The programme fees are S$750 per participant. This includes twin sharing hotel accommodation and all meals.

FAQs

Am I guaranteed investment as an accelerator participant?
Our focus is on holistically developing the entrepreneur and helping entrepreneurs become deeply formed as redemptive leaders who guide their ventures to become more effective, more profitable, and more redemptive in their impact. Participants will have the opportunity to share investment needs during the programme but are not guaranteed investment.

Can I apply if I only have an idea for a company?
At this time, we are only accepting early-stage founders who have built or a close to releasing a prototype, but do give us a call to share about your idea. Where possible, we’ll be happy to give you feedback and continue to stay in touch, as you continue your journey.
Does my company need to be based in Singapore?
For founders who are not based in Singapore, but are based in Southeast Asia, we welcome your application but you will need to support the costs of your flights to/from Singapore and any required entry/exit permits on your own.
How many from my company can attend the programme?
A maximum of two may attend. The founder should be one of them, but in the absence of co-founder, another key team member attending can also be helpful for thinking through the implementation of takeaways.
Do I need to attend every session? Can I take turns with others from my company to attend?
As each session has been carefully designed to help founders build the right foundations for their companies, we are looking for founders who are able to commit to the whole programme. If you have an unusual situation, please contact us before applying, so that we can advise you appropriately.
Does my start-up have to be a digital technology company to apply?
If you’re not sure your company is “tech” enough, feel free to contact us to clarify.
Does my company have to be a “social business” to apply?
By applying a redemptive framework, we believe all businesses are “social” in that they have to consider the impact their products and services will have on their customers and culture, as well as how they run their business (how they treat their people, how they treat their customers).
Do I need to have been a Christian for a long time to apply?
We do not equate duration with depth. Instead, we are looking for participants who are teachable, in community with fellow believers, and seeking to live “and seeking to live a life impacted by the gospel.
Do my employees all need to be believers for me to qualify?
Not necessarily. However, a core of like minded Christians is strongly recommended, as the material can be “paradigm shifting” and journeying together to make changes in your company is important.
Are scholarships available?
While we usually encourage all participants to invest in their own growth, do contact us if you are facing unusual challenges.
If I’m not sure my company qualifies, can I speak with someone on your team before I apply?
Most definitely! We welcome enquiries.

Apply

If you have questions we haven’t answered in our FAQs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at labs@digitalmissionventures.com. If you’re interested to apply, please complete our application form, and someone from our team will be in touch shortly.

Meet Your Mentors & Speakers

Charmain Tan

Charmain Tan is the Founder and CEO of QuickDesk Pte Ltd which provides one-stop digital sales and marketing solutions — as well as training — for SMEs and business professionals. She then taps on the learnings of developing and growing QuickDesk, to nurture many least and lost through her society – Songkids. She made Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list for Enterprise Technology in 2019, and Singapore’s inaugural top 100 Women in Tech List in 2020.

David Yeo

David is the Chairman and CEO of Kydon Group, a company he founded in 2012 with the vision to build the human capacity so that man may live a dignified and abundant life. Kydon does this by empowering learners to build his capacity for work, partnering like-minded people for life-on-life impact, and enabled by technology to scale, sustain and adapt across nations – particularly in Asia. David is a serial entrepreneur, having founded and exited two companies in 2016 and 2020. David currently serves voluntarily as a Council member for the Singapore Institute of Adult Learning (IAL), and a Board member of Campus Impact, a Singapore Social Service Agency..

Jason Lim

Jason Lim is the Head of Technology at Adam Road Presbyterian Church. He works with the Church staff and leadership teams in harnessing technology to support the various ministries in ARPC. Prior to dedicating his time to full-time Gospel work, Jason’s entrepreneur journey started in the 90’s where he ventured into both the technology and food industries. Jason is husband to Ophelia and father to 3 beautiful teenage children. He spends some weeknights leading Bible studies and alternate Sundays sharing the Word of God in Changi Prison.

Lee Junxian

Junxian is a Methodist and was baptised in 2015. Having been schooled primarily in Christian schools, Junxian has gone through the process and struggles of denying, accepting, maturing and delighting in our Lord. He is a startup entrepreneur by profession and is deeply interested in topics pertaining to the practical and functional implications of being a Christian in a modern marketplace.

Lim Shu Chern

SC Lim formerly served on various leadership positions on international assignments with IBM for 30 years. He now is a technopreneur investing in technology companies and believes that MinTech will dramatically accelerate the Gospel to the ends of the World. You can find him at Digital Mission@360 hub or Digital Mission Ventures events where prayerfully, many start ups with Christian founders for Kingdom impact will be spawned.

Poh Yu Khing

Yu Khing has worked in both government and private sector – spending many years on developing the Singapore Sports Hub project. He is now freelance, but considers himself fully employed by God. He serves God through his corporate consulting work, and also through a Christian marketplace ministry called Resource Global, helping to mentor Christians towards living out their Kingdom calling in the marketplace.

Reuben Ang

Reuben is the Managing Director of Hesed & Emet, the parent company of well-loved Singapore caterers Elsie’s Kitchen and Continental Delight. The third generation in his family to manage the business, he learned the ropes by spending his school holidays packing bento sets and volunteering for deliveries, and now oversees business development and operations for all subsidiaries. As a believer, he strives to apply a Biblical worldview across the way the business is managed.

Ronald Pang

Ronald Pang accepted the Lord when he was 15 years old. He is the founder and Managing Director of Clariti Hearing Pte Ltd, a retail business to help improve the quality of life of those who cannot hear well through better hearing. www.clariti.com.sg. Ronald firmly believes it was the Lord’s divine leading that got him involved in his current hearing aid business. This business is also his ministry and place to share Christ. He has been changing lives since 1997 and hopes to make the lives of the Singapore ageing population a happier one. Ronald is also the President of the Hearing Professionals Association (Singapore). He has won several awards during his career including the ASME Entrepreneur of the Year and ACE Spirit of Enterprise..

Sharon Lim

Sharon is a Co-founder and CEO of Browzwear, the leading 3D design and merchandizing platform used by leading brands in the industry. She is a corporate visionary who has over 20 years of experience within the apparel industry, from sourcing to retail. After being a global distributor of Browzwear for 8 years, her expertise lies in establishing links between technology and fashion. She also has a passion for eradicating poverty through community development projects and creating sustainability in less-privileged communities in Asia.

So-Young Kang

So-Young is the CEO and Founder of Gnowbe, an award-winning microlearning creator tool that is revolutionizing how creators teach and learn. With her background at McKinsey, Citigroup, and as the Founding Chairman of Awaken Group, a human-centered transformation design firm, So-Young has been a strategic advisor to global leaders across the US, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. She has been a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum since 2014. So-Young is the author of ‘Inside Out’, global speaker and thought leader across multiple platforms including WEF, Forbes, Davos, TEDx, Huffington Post, Drucker Forum, etc. She is on the boards of Young Professionals’ Group and founding member of SEA Founders.. So-Young holds a BA with Honors from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard University..

Tan Boon Kim

Boon Kim is the Executive Director for Startups and Innovation Ecosystem at Enterprise Singapore. He oversees the initiatives to ensure Singapore remains a vibrant global startup hub and to grow the innovative capabilities of our local enterprises. Prior to this, he served three decades in the Singapore Armed Forces in the areas of international policy, intelligence and operations. His passion is to mentor Christians to live their calling in the marketplace.

Wayne Soo

Wayne is the founder of Fiducia LLP which, according to the Singapore Business Review, is the 23rd largest accounting firm in Singapore as at December 2019 with over 60 professionals. Wayne has more than 25 years of auditing, financial and management consultancy experience and is the Founding President of The Manchester Business School Alumni Association of Singapore (MBSAAS). Wayne also provides mentorship to start-ups under Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) and students of the Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) MBA programme.

Winston Chan

Winston is the Group Managing Partner of FT Consulting – a Singapore-headquartered, Asia-centric business consulting firm with 30 years of track record. He is listed in “IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists” since 2018, and has been actively involved in franchising, technology transfer, strategic planning, branding, innovation and IP management projects across countries for almost 2 decades. He is also currently appointed board director of IPOS International – the 100+ staff strong expertise and enterprise engagement arm of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.