Business-incubating infrastructure, tax incentives, cash grants, or financing schemes; everything that a new company desires, Singapore has it. In fact, the Government has recently rolled out several initiatives to propel the nation towards a thriving start-up ecosystem.
To get ahead of the fierce global competition for talented entrepreneurs, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Mr Koh Poh Koon announced the launch of Startup SG in March 2017.
Startup SG is the umbrella branding unifying all the support schemes for startups in Singapore. Essentially a launch pad for entrepreneurs by providing them a platform to access local support initiatives as well as connect to the global entrepreneurial network, Startup SG is your go-to one-stop source for loans, grants, funding and capability-enhancement.
The Government, meanwhile, has also overhauled the EntrePass work pass scheme with further enhancements to the evaluation criteria in a bid to facilitate the entry of global entrepreneurial talent into Singapore.
This came at the backdrop of significant increase in the number of start-ups in the country over the last decade or so. The number was 48,000 in 2015, as compared to 22,000 in 2003. And with recent developments where the authorities have extended more support to start-ups in terms of funding and talent, this number is bound to increase even further, adding to Singapore’ reputation as a regional hub for start-ups.
So if you have decided to be a part of the city-state’s vibrant startup ecosystem and incorporate a company in Singapore, below is the exhaustive list of all the governmental support you can receive here.
Startup SG
The platform provided by the said initiative caters to every possible permutation of a start-up ecosystem, and is categorised under six different pillars:
Startup SG Founder
It provides mentorship and start-up capital grant to first-time entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas. Under this, SPRING, which matches $3 for every $1 raised by the entrepreneur, has appointed Accredited Mentor Partners (AMP) whose job is to identify qualifying applicants based on the uniqueness of business concept, the feasibility of business model, strength of management team, and potential market value.
Startup SG Tech
It is aimed at providing early-stage funding to companies for the commercialisation of proprietary technology and includes both Proof-of-Concept (POC) and Proof-of-Value (POV) grants depending on the technology’s developmental stage. Do note that this is a competitive grant, which tech start-ups can use to fast-track the development of their proprietary solutions and generate a scalable business model.
Startup SG Equity
This scheme – where the Singapore Government co-invests in a start-up along with third party investors – is aimed at encouraging and stimulating private-sector investments into innovative, Singapore-based technology start-ups with intellectual property and global market potential. With regard to the co-investment ratio with third party investors, it is 7:3 up to $250,000, and 1:1 thereafter up to the investment cap of $2 million for general tech companies. The figures for deep tech companies are 7:3 up to $500,000, and 1:1 thereafter up to the investment cap of $4 million. But the Government only co-invests if the interested third party individual or corporate investors are prepared to invest at least $50,000 each, and are able to contribute to the start-up’s growth via management experience, relevant business contacts and necessary technical expertise.
Importantly, this pillar of Startup SG is managed by SPRING SEEDS Capital (SSC), which is the investment arm of SPRING Singapore. It co-invests with independent investors in commercially-viable Singapore-based start-ups with innovative and strong intellectual content that are scalable across international markets.
SSC has already pledged up to $100 million to groom high potential Singapore-based deep technology start-ups and is calling for co-investment partners in the domain areas of Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), as well as Health and Biomedical Sciences.
Startup SG Accelerator
This scheme provides funding and non-financial support to incubators and accelerators working in strategic growth sectors to further enhance their programs and expertise in nurturing successful start-ups. The funding support includes partial operating expenses such as salaries of the incubation team, hiring of mentors and experts to guide start-ups, and expenses in developing programmes to help start-ups develop new products and services, obtain business financing, and improve market access.
Read more about Startup Schemes and Grants in Singapore at Singapore Company Incorporation.
