S'pore the top start-up investment destination in S-E Asia: Report

Deep-tech sector here flourished in 2023, although funding squeeze continues to be felt

- Timothy Goh

Singapore was the top start-up investment destination in South-east Asia in 2023 despite a downturn in funding, noted a new report.

It found that start-ups based here accounted for 63.7 per cent of all equity deals in the Asean-6 group of nations Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - in 2023, compared with 56.7 per cent in 2022.

The report from Enterprise Singapore and DealStreetAsia also noted that Singapore's deep-tech start-up ecosystem flourished in 2023, with a 31.4 per cent year-onyear increase in deals.

This marked a recovery from a 38.9 per cent drop in 2022, although deal value fell 18.4 per cent to US$1.53 billion (S$2.07 billion) in 2023.

EnterpriseSG start-up ecosystem director Cindy Ngiam said on April 3 that Singapore's results indicate continued investor confidence in the country as the region's go-to destination for funding and startup development.