East Ventures, a venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, has launched My First $1000, an eight-week youth entrepreneurship program for students in Singapore to execute business ideas with integrity, ownership, and accountability.
Designed for students aged 14 to 18 across Secondary 3 and 4, Junior Colleges, Polytechnics, and ITEs, the program equips youths with seed capital to build and run business ideas within a structured, time-bound framework. Participants are guided to take calculated risks while learning to manage revenue transparently and responsibly, reinforcing ownership, accountability, and integrity in a real-world setting.
My First $1000 was conceptualized by Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures, throughout his engagement in Singapore’s Economic Strategy Review (ESR) Entrepreneurship Committee, led by Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development, and Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth and Manpower. The Committee aims to strengthen Singapore’s startup ecosystem and nurture a stronger entrepreneurial culture.
A clear theme emerged from the discussions and engagements with the startup community: if we want to foster a stronger entrepreneurial culture, our people must be exposed to meaningful opportunities to experience entrepreneurship from a young age, and be supported to bounce back and try again should they fail. They need opportunities to take risks and test business ideas in a real-world setting while learning to manage money responsibly.
“To develop entrepreneurial skills, the best way to learn risk-taking skills is by experiencing them, rather than only studying how risks might occur. These are not capabilities that can be taught purely in a classroom. If we nurture a willingness to embrace risk during the formative years, young people can become more familiar with risk and manage outcomes, whether it is good or bad. Through My First $1000, we want to create an environment where young people can try, fail, and learn to take risks in fun and educational ways,” said Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures.
Real money, real execution, real learning
Unlike grant-based programs or business competitions, My First $1000 introduces participants to the realities of capital and execution as part of their character-building process. The program comprises several stages:
- Journey kick-off: Mentor introduction and in-person workshop to help teams sharpen their ideas and execution approach.
- Seed capital: Each team receives $250 in starting capital from East Ventures.
- Execution: Teams bring their ideas to life, operate in real market conditions, and generate revenue over 8 weeks.
- Capital repayment: At the end of the programme, teams return the $250 seed capital plus a $50 cost of capital (total $300).
- Matching incentive: For every $1 in revenue generated, the programme provides a dollar-for-dollar match, capped at $1,000.
- Showcase Day: Selected teams present their journeys, outcomes, and learnings to invited guests and expert panels.
Participants are required to operate under real market conditions, including understanding that capital comes with a cost. The program also uses bank-statement verification to ensure proper use of funds and accurate reporting, reinforcing ethical behaviour from the outset of the entrepreneurial journey.
Throughout the program, selected teams will receive guidance from mentors and access to business tools before presenting their journeys, results, and lessons learned at the end of the program. Applications are now open and will close by 28 February 2026. The full timeline can be accessed here.
For more information, please visit my1st1000.sg.
