November 15, 2022

According to StartupBlink’s Startup Ecosystem Index 2022, Singapore has surpassed China as the region’s top-ranked ecosystem for start-ups.

The Republic came up at number seven globally out of 100, trailing only the United States, Britain, Israel, Canada, Sweden, and Germany. Prior to this year, Singapore was ranked tenth.

Singapore placed 22nd overall out of 1,000 cities in the index’s ranking of cities.

The financial technology (fintech) industry was singled out as Singapore’s “over-performing” industry in the report, which also noted that the Republic is now ranked among the top 30 cities for other industries like education technology, e-commerce and retail, software and data, and marketing and sales.

The report stated that Singapore “continues the pattern of a very small country enormously over-performing and producing regional effect as an open and powerful Asian hub,” adding that Singapore’s friendly tax laws and ease of doing business attract “huge ecosystem investment.”

The ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab was noted in the report as an example of how the Republic serves as home to prominent start-ups’ Asian headquarters.

A increasing number of start-up accelerators that provide access to funding and business loans, including initiatives run by Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and its Startup SG initiative, were also mentioned.

One of the partners in the Asia-Pacific ecosystem of StartupBlink is identified in the report as ESG.

According to the report, Singapore’s universities are also active in the start-up community by fostering entrepreneurship on campus, connecting programs to start-ups, and preparing the workforce for research and development.

Despite having a limited market and population, the Republic also benefits from having a global viewpoint, which aids in positioning it as a regional hub, according to the research.

Its strong rule of law and intellectual property protection, as well as its start-up-related visa program EntrePass, which enables qualified international entrepreneurs to launch and run a venture-backed or technologically inventive enterprise in Singapore, were further advantages.

The research stated that while Singapore’s public sector is very supportive of the startup ecosystem, the nation should take care not to turn this support into a dependency.

“Singapore should also put a focus on luring talent and preserving competitiveness on a global basis.”
According to its website, StartupBlink is “the world’s most comprehensive start-up ecosystem map and research center” and is situated in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Since 2017, it has released the index together with a companion report in an effort to assist startup owners in making location-related decisions.

An algorithm is used to create the index, and it uses quantitative data to determine ratings for quantity, quality, and business climate.

Top 10 Startup Ecosystem Index 2022

  • United States
  • Britain
  • Israel
  • Canada
  • Sweden
  • Germany
  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • France
  • China