Singapore, the AI capital of the world?

The success of locally founded, billion-dollar-valued company PatSnap points the way forward for the Republic's place in the Future Economy

A Higher Nitec student at ITE College West demonstrating her smart artificial intelligence (AI) sign language software in a showcase of social impact AI projects last week. Singapore has already started to push AI as part of its core economic strateg
A Higher Nitec student at ITE College West demonstrating her smart artificial intelligence (AI) sign language software in a showcase of social impact AI projects last week. Singapore has already started to push AI as part of its core economic strategy for the Future Economy, says the writer. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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A Singapore-founded company, PatSnap, last week joined the ranks of global technology unicorns when it raised US$300 million (S$404 million) in its latest funding round.

A unicorn is a term used in the technology investment circle to refer to companies with a valuation of US$1 billion or more. With the fresh funding round, PatSnap's valuation now tops that magic number, with tech investment giants SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tencent Investment among those backing the company.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 25, 2021, with the headline Singapore, the AI capital of the world?. Subscribe