Singapore venture capital surges as startups seek room to grow

Bloomberg

Singapore is experiencing a surge in venture capital fundraising, reflecting growing interest in Southeast Asia’s startups. This month, Vertex Ventures and two other venture-capital firms completed fundraising efforts in the city, each with their largest fund yet. In September, East Ventures, which made early bets on successful startups like Tokopedia and Traveloka, raised $30 million that will go toward seed capital and early-stage financing.
Investors are putting money into the region’s venture firms as they seek opportunities beyond the US and China, the primary focus for Asia deals in recent years. Singapore’s government is providing incentives to attract entrepreneurs and venture capitalists—cutting regulatory red tape, protecting intellectual property and allocating public money for early investments.
“In the past decade, Singapore has invested heavily in the startup ecosystem,’’ said Paul Meyers, head of muru-D Singapore, Telstra Corp.’s accelerator program. “As a result, we’re seeing more—and higher quality—startups appearing and getting funded.’’
The venture industry continues to be led by the US, which accounted for $21.5 billion of the $39 billion total invested in the third quarter, according to KPMG’s Venture Pulse Q3 2017 report.