There has been a wave of tech start-ups in Singapore as the country offers many advantages beyond its central location and easy access to other Asian markets and English-speaking economies. Government efforts to attract foreign capital—including tax breaks—have made the island-state a haven for tech start-ups.
In the first six months of 2021, start-ups raised a total of SGD 5.3 billion (USD 3.93 billion), up 1.5 times from SGD 3.4 billion in the same period in 2020, according to Enterprise Singapore, a government agency that supports entrepreneurs.
Singapore has the advantage of attracting a large amount of capital, making it easy for foreign investors to invest. Singapore has a clear and consistent tax system, making it simple and attractive to foreign investors.
estors. According to a US global investment company, 80% of Singaporeans aged between 18 and 35 manage their assets. For its robo-advisory service, the robo-advisory platform for asset management offers four different portfolios—global equities, bonds, gold exchange, traded funds—as well as other instruments. A robo-advisor provides digital financial advice based on mathematical models and algorithms.
When managing their assets, people need an idea of how much money they will require over their lifetimes. A tech company that provides financial planning solutions offers a life-planning platform, to asset management advisors and others, enabling them to simulate asset management online. When a client’s information, including income, family structure, and asset conditions—such as homeownership—are entered, the platform creates simulations and a graph that shows when the client will run out of assets and their balance at the age of 90. The client can then visualise how assets are built up and run down.
Tech start-ups have also increased in non-financial sectors. A rapidly growing educational tech company offers services that combine real classrooms with information technology. Thousands of classes are conducted by some 1,000 service providers. The edtech company uses artificial intelligence to make recommendations based on basic information visitors enter, such as age and topics that interest them. Classes designed for adults include robotics and finance.
Before COVID-19, there was no urgency to see how technology impacts education. The pandemic provided an opportunity for tech companies to demonstrate their capabilities. The pandemic’s curtailment of face-to-face teaching has made online lessons are ubiquitous in all directions
A developer of end-to-end internet-connected solutions grabbed opportunities the pandemic created. For example, the demand for building management sensors to track visitors has greatly increased. The Internet of Things (IoT) industry has become too fragmented, and Singapore aims to simplify it and eradicate frictions.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, Enterprise Singapore is collaborating with a venture capital firm in Singapore to launch a new virtual programme that will support aspiring entrepreneurs. Called 500 Ignition Singapore, the initiative assists entrepreneurs to create their start-ups from scratch.
This programme is ideal for those who do not have business experience or may have had experience as small business owners. Entrepreneurs of selected start-ups in the city-state will be mentored through all the steps involved in creating innovative ventures. Start-ups with an innovative idea or technology can search for relevant problem statements to propose solutions to, and access co-development, test-bedding and market opportunities with major organisations.
The programme will take place in three stages. In the first stage, participants will be divided into teams to learn the best way to gather insights and to craft captivating value propositions for their products and services. The second stage will be about helping start-ups develop a minimum viable product (MVP) that enables them to create a version of a product with enough features to attract early-adopter customers. In the third stage, the teams will learn various components that contribute to the success or failure of a start-up, such as marketing, sales, etc.
