Singapore to be 'the next Silicon Valley'

01.03.2012

The country has always been a popular destination for multinationals given its ease of doing business, use of English as the first language and location as the gateway to Asia. But recently it has been targeted by hi-tech players, internet start-ups and incubator funds looking to tap into the region's entrepreneurial and tech-savvy spirit.
The latest entrant is a US$10 million (S$1.25 million) incubator fund called Golden Gate Ventures (GGV) which aims to build a partnership between Silicon Valley and Asia.
One way of doing this will be to send high-performing Asian entrepreneurs to the US to work with leading start-ups in Silicon Valley.
One of the venture capitalists behind GGV, Mr Vinnie Lauria, said: "I see a lot of opportunity here. Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley. But in this region there are a lot of new tech start-ups coming who are going to do really well and we want to be a part of that."
Plans are already in the pipeline to fly successful mentors and entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley to work alongside big names such as the founders of Bit Torrent, MySpace and YouTube.
GGV will also be targeting other south-east Asian markets such as the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. It will be looking for Internet companies and suitable start-ups to invest in, reported The Daily Telegraph.
British expat Mr Dan Truman has been working with a US-based start-up in Singapore for two years. He said: "There is a real buzz that Singapore can turn into a hub for successful start-ups and maybe unearth the next Google or Apple. You also have the option of outsourcing R&D to neighbouring countries with cheaper labour costs."
Singapore is attractive as it ranks number one in the world for ease of doing business and number four for starting up a business, according to the World Bank.
Universities and polytechnics now have entrepreneurship programs, as well their own incubators, and private players are seeing the opportunity to mentor young people starting out.
While having a market of just five million people, investors usually park their money in Singapore but then invest in much bigger markets close by, such as Indonesia, which is the world's fourth most populous country, with 238 million citizens.