P&G, the American multinational consumer goods company, has made it to the headlines for investing $12 million in three new businesses in Singapore, set to be scaled up globally.

Reportedly, the new businesses are expected to involve latest technology platforms, new brands & business models. Sources with the knowledge of the matter revealed that about $8 million from the total amount will be pumped into a seed fund that will help a team of employees to work with local enterprises on several business ideas and projects.

Sources further added that the latest investment is a strategic part of the company’s venture-building unit, GrowthWorks, which currently has about 130 experiments and researches going on in the United States. For the record, the investment marks the largest commitment towards the programme outside the United States.

P&G’s latest move was announced by Kathy Fish, the Chief Research Development & Innovation Officer at P&G, at the fifth anniversary of the company’s Singapore Innovation Center located in Buona Vista. Fish was quoted saying that GrowthWorks has brought in the scale & resources of a corporation along with the entrepreneurial spirit of a lean startup.

The company, through the investment, which has been made in collaboration with the Economic Development Board of Singapore, is reportedly looking forward to faster innovations for its Asian consumers and bigger contributions to the innovation ecosystem present in Singapore.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister, commented that P&G’s partnerships with smaller companies in Singapore is helping to strengthen Singapore’s innovation capacity. He added that GrowthWorks appears to be ‘internalizing disruption’ and scaling up new businesses throughout Singapore.

Reportedly, the Singapore Innovation Centre employs a number of engineers and researchers and has set-ups and facilities for quick trial and launch of products.