By Lester Kok

HAVE a bright idea on using the Internet? Here's the money. Go run with it.

Over two years, that's what 150 groups did.

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Armed with an idea, they approached the Media Development Authority (MDA) for $50,000 grants under its Interactive Digital Media's Jump-start and Mentor (i.JAM) scheme.

Except that, for 100 groups, their ideas never bore fruit or the projects are plodding along.

Some of those who failed had quit their jobs in the hope of becoming dot.com entrepreneurs. They ended up returning to the labour force instead.

Others struggled on solo, abandoned by team-mates but still intent on coming up with a money-spinning business model.

The exact amount blown on these failed projects is hard to pin down, as each group is given an initial sum ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 and further pay-outs are made after the groups meet certain milestones in their projects. The estimate is likely to be a seven-digit sum.

Only 25 projects have evolved into businesses, which are attracting millions of users, the MDA said.

Mr Aaron Chua, who administers these projects, said the attrition rate was part and parcel of entrepreneurship. 'What's important, is that a culture of innovation, experimentation and risk-taking takes root, with individuals and start-ups encouraged to pitch their ideas in a competitive marketplace.'

To qualify for funding, the ideas are evaluated by a panel of three industry experts appointed by MDA. About one in four applications for i.JAM received funding.

Those which flop are not required to pay back the money, although the hardware bought with the funds must be returned.

Each group is attached to a mentoring body, known as an incubator, which helps bring their projects to fruition.

Mr Nicholas Chan, a director of one such incubator, Azione Capital, said there had been cases of start-ups abusing the funds and spending recklessly.

One group, he said, hired IT developers and submitted a bill of $20,000 to its incubator. In actual fact, the people hired were not doing real work and were friends of the founders.

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