Seedstars World gives an overview of the Singapore startup ecosystem. During the worldwide startup competition, the Seedstars World travelled through 20 countries, focusing on the fast growing startup scene and the emerging markets, to select the best startups of the world. www.seedstarsworld.com

1. SINGAPORE
The startup-friendly eldorado
Singapore, which means in Malayan "Lion City", has been able to attract investments from all types of industries
and put great efforts to establish itself not only as SEA's financial hub but also as its high-tech hub. Among its
many advantages, Singapore benefits from a developed free-market economy, an open and corruption free environment, stable prices and a high per capita GDP.
Singapore
Rank 3d
worldwide for foreign
trade and investment
346
WEF
Germany
1.3%
1%
0.7%
Singapore
31.8%
of population is aged
below 24
2nd
5.6%
GDP growth in 2012
startups on
AngelList
5.4M inhabitants
Switzerland
in the world
Global
Competitiveness
Index
Average
annual growth
of services in
economy
63%
4 official languages: Mandarin,
English, Malay , Tamil
157 000 millonaires
(ranks 10th worldwide)
50%
of population gives a high
status to successful
entrepreneurs in society
(GEM)
23%
of population consider
becoming an entrepreneur a
desirable career choice
(GEM)
80% of Singapor-
of population perceive
tremendous business
opportunities in their country
(GEM)
MARKET
eans access the Internet daily
97% in the 15-19
The average Singaporean
spends 25 hours on the
Internet every week
VS.
12 hours on broadcast TV
$60,789
age range
average revenue
per person
$34380 in Germany
per year
For every 100 Singaporeans...
87
Top 3 trends in
the tech market
Economic growth over the
last 3 years
1.8%
have
smartphones
largest penetration in
Asia Pacific
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
74
0.0
-0.5
Singapore
-0.2%
EU
Tablet use
Percentage market cap
(as part of GDP)
use social
networks regularly
150.8%
50%
Singapore
EU
200
150
23%
100
75
Mobile Online travel
apps
internet users have a
tablet in their home
50
0
2nd
are online
76%
iOS
7th
World ranking World ranking
for infrastruc- for Technology
tures (WEF)
readiness
(WEF)
4 million
social network users
3%
$1bn
Other (Symbian,
Nokia..)
e-commerce
market size
grew 36% since
last year
Singaporean web users
spend more than
FINANCING
$454.9bn
Ahead of Germany,
Sweden and Switzerland
2086
Stock of Direct Foreign
Investment - at home
Rank 5th
Investors on
AngelList
Worldwide VC and
Private Equity
attractiveness index
21%
Android
7 hours per week
on social media sites
$39.9M
Capital set aside by the Singaporean government to support early stage investment
LOCAL CONTEXT
Media attention for
entrepreneurship
High-Technology export
% of existing media
150
$126.4b
120
77%
50%
90
$64.1b
European
Union
6 major
co-working spaces
Startup Club:hq
SmartSpace
The Hub
Club 71
Space at 8
The Co
2002
$52,960
per year
most business friendly
country in the world
JFDI
Superincubator
iAxil
Golden Gate Venture
Higher education
and training ranking
(WEF)
30
0
4 major accelerators
and incubators
2nd
60
Singapore
1st
Main startup influencers
2011
TiA, e27 and StartUp Club
average salary for a
marketing manager Rank 11th
Worldwide Entrepreneurial
$63,552 in the US
Culture and Deal Opportunities
WHO TO FOLLOW
Entrepreneurs to follow
Eric Tachibana
COO APAC at UBS
Douglas Gan
Co-Founder at VanityTrove.com
@DouglasGan
Startups to follow
John Fearon
Founder of Dropmysite
Mobile Stock Market Game
@JohnFearon
Success story
Website monitoring and backups
3D Printing
Viki is a platform that
streams videos with
crowdsourced subtitles
Over 22 million viewers
a month, 1 billion
videos viewed per year,
170 languages
Japanese Rakuten
acquired Viki for $200M
Website builder
Sources:
Global Competitiveness Index (WEF); WorldBank - Bloomberg; Credit Suisse Global Wealth
Report 2013; Global Innovation Index 2013; Angel.co; www.gemconsortium.org; CCK, April,
2013; www.gs.statcounter.com; Seedstars World; www.hubbathailand.comd
www.seedstarsworld.com