Long-game strategy crucial as new initiatives help S’pore start-ups go overseas, be competitive

SINGAPORE – Start-ups in Singapore need to expand their connections and businesses beyond the Republic’s shores through partnerships, in order to keep the ecosystem robust and competitive.

Having a long-term strategy is even more crucial during times of volatility, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan.

“In a time of uncertainty, we have to push on and play the long game.”

Speaking to the media on March 25 at the launch of JTC’s new co-working space at its start-up hub LaunchPad at One-North, Mr Tan urged start-ups to think beyond growing their businesses in Singapore.

“It’s also about landing in the markets in which they feel they have a right to win.”

They can tap various schemes from the Government that would enable them to confidently expand overseas and have “node-to-node connections”, he said. These include the Startup SG Equity scheme, which received a top-up of $1 billion at Budget 2026 to support Singapore-based deep tech start-ups in the growth and early stages.

LaunchPad was started by JTC in 2015 as a hub to bring together start-ups, incubators, accelerators and venture capitalists in a collaborative ecosystem.

On March 2, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong announced in Parliament that the start-up hub will be further developed to support an artificial intelligence park called Kampong AI.

It is slated for completion by 2028.

At the JTC event, Mr Tan announced a number of new initiatives that will not only open global doors for Singapore start-ups to expand and network overseas, but also attract start-ups from other countries.

Alongside upgrades to the hub’s facilities, these enhancements would foster spontaneity and connections that will make the start-up ecosystem more vibrant, he said.

Start-ups based at LaunchPad will be able to access 19 start-up nodes around the world, including San Francisco, Paris, Tokyo and Shenzhen, thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between JTC and NUS Enterprise, and another joint MOU inked with the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Action Community for Entrepreneurship and INSEAD.

The National University of Singapore’s entrepreneurial arm and INSEAD offer access to co-working spaces at overseas hubs, providing start-ups with a base to test product-market fit before committing significant resources to a new market.

In addition, NUS Enterprise provides soft-landing support to start-ups. This includes pre-trip preparation, market objective setting, access to community events, and introductions to local investors and customers.

Alongside Enterprise Singapore under the Global Innovation Alliance initiative, JTC will also support start-ups to access global innovation ecosystems and explore market expansion opportunities.

Ms Yap Eai-Sy, director of the Infocomm Media and Startup Division at JTC, said: “LaunchPad is where start-ups and enterprises can build, grow and go global. We are making it easier for them to set up, opening our doors to scale-ups and connecting founders to international markets, all from Asia’s most dynamic business hub.”

Domestically, start-ups will also be able to tap the connections of an enhanced network of Singapore corporations for innovation challenges, proof of concept opportunities and funding partnerships.

JTC’s LaunchPad Innovation Network (LINK), which already features 10 companies, including SBS Transit and JRE Ventures, will be expanded with four more companies. They are property developers CapitaLand Development and City Developments Limited, geographic information system provider Esri and SoftBank Robotics.

To encourage more founders to set up base here, the statutory board will introduce more start-up friendly policies at LaunchPad. Start-ups can benefit from up to two months of free rent for fitting out, as well as more flexible lease terms and shorter notice periods that allow them to adjust their space needs as they grow.

It will also expand LaunchPad’s entry criteria beyond early-stage start-ups to include scale-ups, a move that JTC said will catalyse innovation and spark collaboration.

Start-ups can also access a wider network of sites across JTC’s real estate portfolio to pilot and validate their ideas.

Mr Andrew Chow, vice-president of APAC finance and operations at Softbank Robotics Singapore, said the LINK partnership opens up multiple avenues for collaboration with LaunchPad start-ups.

Beyond capital investment and financial support for global expansion, Mr Chow said the robotics firm would also be able to support start-ups in the mass production and maintenance of robots, as well as jointly develop comprehensive industry-specific solutions.

“LaunchPad will allow start-ups to access resources and the capabilities from the community to solve customer needs and scale their solutions, which they typically cannot achieve on their own.”

Lowering the barriers to entry, for example keeping the cost of rent at LaunchPad low, would make the start-up hub more attractive to founders, said Mr Joe Lu, co-founder and chief executive of travel rewards platform HeyMax.

The start-up set up shop in a small 400 sq ft office unit at LaunchPad in 2023 for less than $2,000 a month in rent, which he said was still cheaper than renting four desks at a co-working space.

The company has since expanded to three office units covering around 2,400 sq ft, costing around $7,000 a month in rent.

But other than solving infrastructural needs, Mr Lu said Singapore would also need to offer start-ups more major exit opportunities, which is currently lacking in the market here.

These should not be limited to just initial public offerings in the US market, where liquidity and trading volumes are high, as regional and multi-country IPOs also make for “positive stories” in a successful start-up ecosystem.

“There needs to be some level of incentive for large corporations in Singapore and the region to incorporate more mergers and acquisitions strategies for start-ups here,” he said.

Attracting and building talent who are invested in the Singapore start-up ecosystem is also an urgent need, added Mr Lu, who was formerly an engineer at Meta. He noted that Singapore has already made significant investments in this area, and should continue to capitalise on its strong branding to strengthen its business community and its partnerships with other countries.

Mr Kelvin Koh, co-chair of the Singapore Enterprise chapter of SGTech, a trade association for Singapore’s tech industry, noted that the start-up sector needs to shift gears in order to stay competitive on the global stage.

“Singapore needs to shift its focus from just helping start-ups get started to aiding their scaling in specific areas. It’s important to concentrate on key sectors like AI, cybersecurity and climate tech, where Singapore can develop global leadership instead of spreading resources too thinly.”

While the new initiatives announced by JTC would offer start-ups easier access to expert insights and critical resources, there still remains potential for more enhancements, he added.

In addition to attracting quality talent, Singapore should also introduce policies such as streamlining regulatory processes and strengthening ties with neighbouring economies. These would reinforce the Republic’s role as the default headquarters in South-east Asia, he said.

Ms Holly Fang, president of the Singapore FinTech Association, said start-ups will need to build on strong fundamentals such as profitability, scalable business models and operational discipline to ensure they remain relevant and operational today.

“Singapore continues to be a strong launchpad for new start-ups, but growth increasingly depends on how well these start-ups can expand regionally and globally.”