Singapore is going all-in to maintain its edge in deep tech – and the government is ready to pour serious cash into helping founders make it happen.
It’s already pledged to spend $28 billion on research and innovation in the four years to 2025 and said in October it would dedicate $332 million of that to startups working in the deep tech space. (That’s basically all the cool stuff from AI to quantum tech to space tech.🚀🚀🚀)
Why should I care?
With interest rates on the higher side, funding has been a struggle in Southeast Asia – and worldwide – for the past couple of years. So, any cash flowing into the startup ecosystem is a big deal. With more funding now available for early-stage startups, founders should have better access to the capital they need to scale.
More money also means more jobs in tech, from engineering and research to business development and operations. The tech job market has been terrible for a while with even the big boys like TikTok laying off hundreds of workers in Southeast Asia.
Want in? Here’s what you need to do
- If you’re a founder, you need to pitch to government investment arms SEEDS Capital or SG Innovate for funding.
- Your company must be a Singapore-based private limited firm that is less than 10 years old and should have at least $50,000 in paid-up capital.
- You should be developing, producing or commercializing tech products, services or platforms; or have a registered patent with an approved IP institution; or a partnership with a research institution.
Promising market
Singapore already leads Southeast Asia when it comes to deep tech, accounting for 86% of deals and 96% of total funding between January 2020 and June last year, according to DealStreetAsia. Deep-tech startups in the city state pulled in around $2.78 billion in funding during this period.
More capital is always a win, Mark Shmulevich, founding partner of Singapore-based deep tech investment firm Aloniq Partners, told MONIIFY. But the country still lacks experienced talent to commercialize these ideas and turn them into businesses.
“That’s where the gap is,” Shmulevich said.
