Singapore is a dynamic startup hub in Southeast Asia due to its supportive business environment, multicultural talent pool, and strong infrastructure. It ranks highly in various quality of living and ease of doing business metrics. Southeast Asia's growing middle class and infrastructure investments make it a large emerging consumer market. Singapore supports startups through government initiatives, incubators/accelerators, investors, and partnerships with corporations and universities. It serves as an ideal location for startups to pilot solutions, access talent, and launch into the Asian market.

1. Startup City -
Singapore
Edmund Mok
Regional Director, Nordics, Singapore EDB
edmund_mok@edb.gov.sg

2. Singapore at a Glance
Singapore has grown into a melting pot for
startups across Southeast Asia. For the
aspiring entrepreneur, the presence of a
dynamic and multicultural generation as well
as supportive business and financial
infrastructures make Singapore a great place
for starting a business and subsequently
making a global impact
149.8%
2016
92.7%
2004
88%
2016
MEAN YEARS OF
SCHOOLING (2016)
10.7
LITERACY
RATE (2016)
97%
2016-2017
24th worldwide
1st in Asia
54th worldwide
6th in Asia
World UniversityRankings2016-2017,
Times Higher Education
MOBILE PHONE
PENETRATE RATE
5.53
million
TOTAL
POPULATION (2015)
CITIZENS
3.37 million
PERMANENT RESIDENTS
527,700
GOOD GOVERNANCE
STRONG INSTITUTIONS
ADAPTABILITY
MERITOCRACY
DIVERSITY
RULE OFLAW
FORWARD
LOOKING
HOUSEHOLD ACCESS
TO BROADBAND
65%
2004
VISITOR
ARRIVALS
(2016)
16.04
million
Singapore Tourism Board
1st
MOST LIVEABLE
ASIAN CITY
Mercer’s Qualityof Living Survey2017
2nd
EASE OF DOING BUSINESS
World Bank’s Doing Business2017 Report
INTEGRITY
SINGAPORE STUDENTS
RANKED AMONG THE TOP IN
READING, MATHEMATICS
AND SCIENCE
Programme for International
Student Assessment
1st
IN STEM (SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING
AND MATHEMATICS)
EDUCATION

3. Business Fast Facts

4. Singapore’s Startup Ecosystem at a Glance

5. Market – For Business
South East Asia became the
world’s 6th largest economy in
2017, poised to be the 5th
largest by 2020
- World Economic Forum
Investments of more than
US$7T on infrastructure,
housing & real estate is
necessary to support SEA’s
growth up to 2030.
Home to 600M people,
the ASEAN consumer
market of US$1.2T is
larger than India & close
to that of coastal China.
2020
2012
ASEAN’s middle
class population is
estimated to more
than double by
2020.

6. Talent – For Innovation
#1
“MOST LIVEABLE
ASIAN CITY”
- Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey 2017
“#1 LOCATION FOR STARTUP TALENT”
– Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report
2017
“BEST STARTUP CITY”
- Nestpick, Startup Cities Index 2017
Strong presence of corporates and large
enterprises

7. Support - for Startups
GlobalEcosystem
Partners
Incubatorsand
Accelerators
Corporates
Investors
IHLs and RIs
Strong pool of local
research and
innovation centres
Good location for piloting
solutions with leading
corporates & government
agencies
Mentorship and
support from international
incubators / accelerators
Ideal Launchpad for
expansion into Asia
Supportive
government policies
and infrastructure
Active venture
funding landscape for
investments and deal
flow
Government

8. Active venture funding landscape for investments and deal flow
Government co-investment initiative to invest into
innovative Singapore-based tech startups
Investment Cap is up to S$2m for info-comms and tech
startups and up to S$4m for deep tech startups (e.g.
medical, advance manufacturing, clean technology)

9. Mentorship and support from international incubators / accelerators
> 100 global startup enablers helping startups scale in Asia

10. Home to exciting startup events

11. Thank you