Little-known fact: the current prime minister of Singapore has a diploma in Computer Science from Cambridge University. One of our two Deputy PMs has a Masters in Computer Science (Imperial College); the other is a trained economist. So if any country can build a hi-tech ecosystem from scratch, it will be this one, writes JFDI.Asia co-founder Meng Wong. Today he upgrades his widely-respected map of the money for start-ups in Singapore.
I came up with the idea for this map about three years ago. The start-up scene in Singapore was attracting a lot of interest from both locals and foreigners new to the country or new to start-up funding. I found myself answering the same questions again and again and so I did what any self-respecting geek would do, which is to produce an infographic that answers that question. It’s useful for the neophyte entrepreneur because it helps them locate themselves so they don’t waste time talking to the wrong investor, which frustrates everyone.
In the last three years, $500m has come online from the government, lean startup methodology has been articulated and we now have better understanding of how start-ups should launch and grow. There’s much more efficiency and transparency in the market for early-stage capital. The map has got bigger, the fonts have got smaller and that’s a good thing because there are more and more players investing more and more money into more and more entrepreneurs.
What’s next? Imagine a social graph showing all the relationships between investors, start-ups and government grants showing the richness and depth of the Singapore ecosystem.
In the meantime, this map goes to show how serious the country is about supporting start-ups and, at JFDI.Asia, we are proud to be a part of that.
Applications are now open for the next JFDI.Asia seed accelerator program starting February 2013