‘Innovations that serve a purpose, paired with a good go-to-market Strategy are attractive for VCs"

Singapore’s health and biomedical landscape constitutes a vibrant pool of innovative medical technology, biotechnology and biopharmaceutical entrepreneurship.

- Hithaishi C Bhaskar

Biomedical sciences industry is the fourth pillar of the country’s manufacturing economy and is extensively fostering local R&D and startups to boost innate innovations. In 2016, the Singapore government committed to a S$4 billion budget to drive research and commercialisation activities in the health and biomedical sciences sector. Further supporting the initiative, Enterprise Singapore Enterprise(SG), the statutory board of the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry plays a vital role in supporting local startup ecosystems. In an interaction with BioSpectrum Asia, Audrey Lok, Director of Healthcare and Biomedical, EnterpriseSG shared insights on its role in promoting Singapore as an Asia-Pacific hub for startups and innovations. Edited excerpts;

How conducive is Singapore's startup ecosystem for fostering bioscience initiatives and empowering entrepreneurship?

COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated the pace of medical innovation and transformation, and it comes as no surprise that we now have more investors and startups in this sector. As of 2021, 400 biomedical startups and SMEs in Singapore prioritise innovative solutions that address today’s healthcare needs or ones that address the pandemic. 1.3 billion in biomedical investments across 40 deals have been recorded in the same year.

A part of this success can be attributed to the thriving ecosystem built upon strong public-private partnerships. Our public healthcare clusters have enabled many healthcare and biomedical startups to embrace innovation, by tapping the clinical strengths and expertise of our healthcare system to refine, develop and testbed solutions. In fact, they have been supporting more than 100 industry engagements and facilitations every year. They are also critical partners who identify