Profile and Success Rate of Singapore Start-ups

Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) what is Singapore's trend of young people joining startups and the success rate of our startups as compared to that of other countries including US and Israel.

Mr S Iswaran: Singapore’sstartup ecosystem has seen significant progress over the past decade.This is due, in part, to the concerted efforts of the Government,industry and other stakeholders to create an environment that isconducive for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Young Singaporeans increasinglyrecognise entrepreneurship as a viable career pathway. Between 2010and 2016, the proportion of startup owners who are locals aged 35and below rose from 20% to 23% 1 .Surveys of young people in Singapore also affirm their growing entrepreneurialaspirations. For example, an NUS survey among tertiary studentsin Singapore reported that between 2011 and 2014, the percentageof students from Singapore Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs)with strong entrepreneurial intent rose from 37.5% to 62.5% 2 . A global survey in 2016 also found that 74% of millennialsin Singapore aim to become their own boss within a decade, comparedto 50% globally 3 .

While there is no standarddefinition of success for startups, Singapore’s startup landscapehas grown steadily over the past decade. Between 2003 and 2016,the total number of startups in Singapore doubled from 22,000 to43,000. In particular, the number of high-tech startups 4 increasedfrom 2,800 to 4,300 over the same period. Singapore has also nurturedfour of the five unicorns 5 in Southeast Asia, namely,Sea (formerly known as Garena), Razer, Lazada and Grab.

Given Singapore’s fairlyrecent entry into the startup scene, Singapore has fared well ininternational benchmarking studies of global startup ecosystems.For example, in Startup Genome’s 2017 Global Startup Ecosystem Report 6 , Singapore is ranked 12th overall,just below cities like Seattle and Paris and above Stockholm andVancouver. Silicon Valley and New York City are the top-ranked cities,with Tel Aviv ranking 6th.

Note(s) to Question No(s) :

1 Source: DOS. Locals are defined as Singaporean Citizens and Permanent Residents.

2 Source: Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) Singapore Reports, 2011 and 2013/2014, NUS.

3 Source: Global Entrepreneur Survey 2016, GoDaddy and Morar Consulting. The study defined millennials as those aged 18-30 years old in 2016 (i.e. individuals born between 1986 and 1998).

4 Based on SPRING’s definition of high-tech sectors, which include sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biomedical manufacturing and hardware manufacturing.

5 Unicorns are high-tech startups valued at more than US$1 billion. The fifth unicorn is Indonesia-based startup Go-Jek.

6 The Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking by US-based organisation Startup Genome, ranks startup ecosystems around the world with regard to startup performance, funding, market reach, talent, and startup experience.