Singapore: startups equity funding by deals and value 2021

In the third quarter of 2021, 121 equity funding deals were completed across Singapore-headquartered firms for a total value of 4.13 billion U.S. dollars. This was the highest value reached over the period measured. It indicates a significant increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 when the funding value reached 0.68 billion U.S. dollars.

Startups funding in Singapore

The average deal value of startup investments in Singapore increased across all investment stages between 2020 and 2021. Series E funding reached 316.5 million U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2021. Over this period, Singapore generated about half of the total equity funding in Southeast Asia. In 2021, the leading tech startups included Ninja Van, Emeritus, and Advance Intelligence Group. Among the leading investors were Accel, Alibaba, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
In recent years, fintech has been a rapidly growing sector in the Singapore startup scene. Among the fintech investments, DeFi companies had the highest number of deals, and e-payment companies had the highest funding value. Cake DeFi and Nium are among the leading startups in these sectors.

Startup ecosystem and investments in Singapore

Over the past decade, Singapore has built an attractive startup ecosystem, bringing together entrepreneurs and investors through government initiatives and accelerator programs. The country enjoys a strategic location and a favorable business climate that attracts many actors in the startup scene. Singapore’s strong intellectual property rights also give companies the confidence to invest in research and development. Moreover, the country has about 400 venture capital firms that provide financial support to this ecosystem. As of May 2022, the value of venture capital funding reached 4.27 billion U.S. dollars, with 500 Startups, Tiger Global Management, and Sequoia Capital leading the firms in terms of funds raised.