Singapore is the fourth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in terms of the combined value of the top 10 leading start-ups.
The top 10 emerging giants in the city-state possess a combined value of US$3.2 billion ($4.44 billion), which places it just after mainland China, India and Japan.
Of the 10, six of them belong in the FinTech sector. Spenmo, a FinTech company that is focused on B2B payments, ranks 9th out of the top 100 emerging giants in APAC.
The APAC region itself has over one-quarter of the world’s total private investment dollars, and is catching up with North America as the world’s number one producer of unicorns.
Unicorns are defined in the report as start-up businesses valued at over US$1 billion.
The total deal value for venture capital in APAC was US$32.62 billion in the 1Q2022, with the total deal value in Singapore accounting for 8.1% or US$2.65 billion, placing the country behind mainland China and India.
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Within Southeast Asia (SEA), Singapore ranks as the top destination for start-up investments.
Start-up ventures based in the country have raised over US$8.02 billion in 2021, more than double the year prior.
Singapore also has the highest number of total start-ups in SEA, with over 9,300 start-ups and 12 unicorns.
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These figures were derived from KPMG & HSBC’s Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific report, which looked at 6,472 technology-focused start-ups with valuations up to US$500 million.
These start-ups were seen as potential emerging giants in 12 key markets, which are mainland China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong (SAR), Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand.
Of the 6,472 start-ups studied, 3.8% of these have origins in Singapore.
In the report, Singapore was also lauded for its “super-supportive ecosystem”, which includes its legal and financial strengths and strong government support for businesses.
Singapore was also seen as a FinTech mega-hub within the report.
“As a country with a strong financial sector, fintech unsurprisingly has a strong presence in Singapore,” it reads.
According to global payments research firm, digital wallets are expected to overtake credit cards for online payments by 2024, with the popularity of services like Grab Holdings’ GrabPay and DBS’s PayLah!
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In addition, the report notes that environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related start-ups, especially in sustainable finance, are on the rise, with Singapore making sustainability a key part of its policy agenda.
“The rising middle class, financial inclusion initiatives and cross-border collaboration have driven a proliferation of new start-ups and unicorns across the region,” says Ling Su Min, head of clients, markets & innovation at KPMG in Singapore.
“Within this, Singapore is a trusted hub,” she adds.
Regina Lee, head of commercial banking at HSBC Singapore, says “Singapore will continue to increase in importance as a financial hub within Asia Pacific and on a global scale.”
On Singapore having the highest number of start-ups in SEA, Ong Pang Thye, managing partner at KPMG in Singapore says “we can expect the entrepreneurial impact of these enterprises to be significant in catalysing innovation here, while also giving a shot in the arm to boost economic strength and market confidence.”
“The challenge forward will be to continue attracting unicorns to reside here. Strong ecosystem support will be needed, such as public and private programmes and incentives for 'hot sectors', an environment that attracts and grooms top talent, as well as a strong purpose across industries and the nation to solve priority problems and create measurable change for the world," he adds.
Kee Joo Wong, CEO of HSBC Singapore says, “From Singapore’s position as a global and regional financial centre, we’ve observed increased interest in venture capital participation in Series A and B rounds of innovative firms in either B2B software or financial services sectors across Europe and Asia.”
“HSBC is well-placed to connect these Emerging Giants to opportunities locally and internationally. Backed by our deep local experience, global network, and customer-tailored banking solutions, we have a proven track-record of helping businesses to grow domestically and subsequently, across borders,” he adds.
