Singapore Witnessing a Florising Start-Up Ecosystem

With the recent significant growth in Singapore start-ups, entrepreneurs should focus on tapping overseas networks and collaborations and attracting global talents with relevant experiences.

FREMONT, CA: Despite a sluggish start, within a decade Singapore has become a flourishing oasis where it is being dubbed the silicon valley of Asia. In the previous year, 11 Singapore-based start-ups achieved unicorn status with a one billion USD valuation, bringing the total number to 22. In terms of funding, it reached 517 deals within a short period, amounting to 11.35 billion in total.

The Singapore ecosystem has done better compared to its past self and also when stacked up against global competitors, and is seventh in the global innovation index 2022. Government and its agencies play a significant role in making the country more conducive for start-ups. However, other important factors, such as the growing affluence and digitisation of services in Southeast Asia act as major components

Singapore cannot rely on the same playbook to continue growing its start-up ecosystem, comprising a range of different players including entrepreneurs, incubators, co-working spaces, investors, agencies, and universities. This is because competitors are fast catching up and closing the gap in Singapore in terms of infrastructure and talent pool. To increase its competitiveness, the country has to produce start-ups that can go toe-to-toe with global enterprises.

Over time, the government schemes have resulted in a vibrant start-up environment attracting participation from local, regional, and global players. The more accurate and objective success indicator for a start-up ecosystem is the amount of investment that it can attract because people vote with their money. Therefore, whether or not companies have the most top talent, the best infrastructure, etc., they will vote with their dollars. Furthermore, while large economies naturally attract the largest hulk of global funding, Singapore has captured the largest share of Southeast Asian venture capital funding.

Along with this, another indicator of the vibrancy of a start-up ecosystem is the self-sustaining, virtuous flow of entrepreneurial talents and capital in the system. This indicates successful entrepreneurs becoming investors or mentors to groom and lead the next generation of start-ups, or key employees in one generation of successful scale-ups leaving to become entrepreneurs themselves to raise new early-stage start-ups. Scale-ups indicate start-ups that have a stable business model and have proven their viability.

With this growth, Singapore is making immense advancements, though the virtuous circle is not yet at the scale that can be observed in other countries. As the past decade has seen the local ecosystem thrive, it needs to take the next step up as the rivals close the gap where Singapore and its entrepreneurs should think big by hitting overseas networks and collaborations and attracting global talents with relevant experiences.