Shopee Joins Hands With SUTD To Nurture Singapore’s Tech Talent Pipeline

30 Jan 2020

Launches Shopee-SUTD scholarship to create opportunities for financially disadvantaged students to pursue an education in technology
Engages in dialogue sessions to further deepen industry-university collaborative opportunities

(L-R) Prof Chong Tow Chong, President of SUTD, Gang Ye, Group Chief Operating Officer of Sea, and Prof David Rosen, Research Director of the SUTD Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, in the DManD centre.

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Sea, announced that they will join hands to nurture Singapore’s tech talent pipeline. SUTD will look to leverage Shopee’s industry expertise, regional presence, and ecosystem to create new opportunities for SUTD students.

The partnership will comprise two parts:

Shopee-SUTD Scholarship: To provide financially disadvantaged students with the opportunity to pursue an education in technology and design.
Shopee-SUTD Industry Collaboration Dialogues: To explore further opportunities for Shopee to broaden its support for SUTD’s capacity building initiatives for tech talent in Singapore.

(L-R) Prof Chong Tow Chong, President of SUTD and Gang Ye, Group Chief Operating Officer of Sea at the Shopee-SUTD Scholarship Gift Ceremony on 23 January, 2020.

The Shopee-SUTD scholarships will provide a total of four financially disadvantaged Singaporean students with full, four-year scholarships that will cover their tuition fees and study-related expenses. The scholarships will be awarded across four years, starting from the Academic Year 2020 intake. Each scholarship will be worth $15,000 annually and will not require recipients to undertake any service or bond requirements.

The Shopee-SUTD Industry Collaboration Dialogues will see Shopee and SUTD explore additional avenues for industry-university collaboration by combining Shopee’s industry know-how, regional presence, and ecosystem together with SUTD’s educational expertise.

These build on Shopee’s ongoing initiatives with SUTD, which include internship programmes and knowledge-sharing sessions, as well as project sponsorships – most recently, Shopee sponsored Team SUTD’s participation at the Autonomous Aerial Vehicle Challenge (AAVC) 2020 in Chumphon, Thailand.

Gang Ye, Group Chief Operating Officer of Sea, said, “Shopee is always looking for new ways to better the lives of people – whether it is by building communities, helping entrepreneurs get started, or creating valuable learning opportunities for our leaders of tomorrow. Together with SUTD, we want to do our part to shape the future of Singapore.”

Prof Chong Tow Chong, President of SUTD, said, “SUTD is grateful to donors like Shopee, who understand the important role education plays in lifting families out of financially difficult circumstances, and whose generosity help ensure that all deserving students with financial need have equal opportunities to pursue a high quality education.”

Shopee’s partnership with SUTD is part of Sea’s “10 in 10” initiative, which aims to provide at least 10 million people across the region with the skills and training they need to succeed in the digital economy over the next decade.

About Shopee

Shopee is the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. It is a platform tailored for the region, providing customers with an easy, secure and fast online shopping experience through strong payment and logistical support. Shopee aims to continually enhance its platform and become the region’s e-commerce destination of choice.

Shopee has a wide selection of product categories ranging from consumer electronics to home & living, health & beauty, baby & toys, fashion and fitness equipment.

Shopee, a Sea company, was first launched in Singapore in 2015, and has since expanded its reach to Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Sea is a leader in digital entertainment, e-commerce and digital financial services across Southeast Asia. Sea's mission is to better the lives of consumers and small businesses with technology, and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol SE.

About Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is Singapore’s fourth public university, and one of the first universities in the world to incorporate the art and science of design and technology into a transdisciplinary, human-centric curriculum. SUTD seeks to advance knowledge and nurture technically-grounded leaders and innovators to serve societal needs. SUTD also recently topped a list of emerging engineering schools in the world in a study conducted by MIT.

A research-intensive university, SUTD is distinguished by its unique East and West academic programmes which incorporate elements of innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and local and international industry collaborations. SUTD will focus in key areas – Healthcare, Cities and Aviation, supported by capabilities in Artificial Intelligence/Data Science and Digital Manufacturing. Multiple post-graduate opportunities are available. In addition, skill-based professional education and training courses are also available at SUTD Academy.