How Singapore is Moving Towards an Innovation-Led Economy

In its bid to drive next generation innovation ahead, Singapore has launched a unique initiative - Entrepreneur First. This initiative aims to support 400 ambitious individuals as part of Singapore’s push towards innovation-led and value-creating economy.

It matters what the most ambitious and technically talented choose to do with their careers. That is the message from Singapore’s Infocomm Investments and UK-based Entrepreneur First (EF), Europe’s leading talent investor, who are today announcing a partnership to set up EF’s first ever international office in Singapore.

The move marks a major milestone for Singapore as the nation recalibrates its economy to focus on value creation and innovation-driven enterprises. EF works exclusively with technical individuals to help them build deep tech startups from scratch. These budding founders need not join with a team or a fixed idea. They will work closely with a select group of highly experienced venture partners to build their startups and prepare for next-stage investments. Since 2013, EF has worked with 200 individuals and built 50 startups which have so far raised over US$60 million in venture capital from leading global investors. Collectively, these startups are now worth more than US$250 million.

Announcing the initiative at the launch event in London, which was attended by leading members of the startup and investor community from the UK and Singapore, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) & Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, said, “This partnership with Entrepreneur First is a win-win. The current turbulence in financial markets doesn’t displace the longer term picture in Asia: its markets are expanding faster than the rest of the world, and its consumers will increasingly demand quality and innovative products. EF's new presence in Singapore will help catalyse technology innovation to take advantage of these opportunities. EF will help individuals with deep technical capabilities and new ideas to translate them into commercial solutions. The possibilities are in many areas such as healthcare, the digital economy and solutions for urban sustainability."

“Entrepreneur First is the biggest creator of startups in Europe, and we have ambitions to be even bigger. We started with the vision that the best and most ambitious technical people will be founders. When talking about talent, innovation and the desire to create startups, Singapore is second to none. With the strong support of Infocomm Investments, our first international office in Singapore marks a new chapter for us and we are extremely excited.” said Matt Clifford, CEO and co-founder of Entrepreneur First.

Chosen as the first destination for the expansion, Singapore offers the best environment to create thriving startups. Over the next four years, EF Singapore aims to support up to 400 highly ambitious and STEM-inclined (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) individuals to create startups focusing on deep technology. This is in line with DPM Tharman’s call for Singapore to embark on a new phase of economic development, moving from value-adding to value-creation.

“Singapore's Smart Nation journey will require innovation to be part of everything we do. One of our biggest priorities is to create new value by better translating the world class R&D in Singapore into greater commercial success. We believe Entrepreneur First’s model of working with deeply-technical individuals in Singapore will lift our already-vibrant startup ecosystem to a whole new level.” said Steve Leonard, Chairman of Infocomm Investments.

EF Singapore aims to recruit 40-50 individuals for its pioneer cohort in September 2016. Applications open on 19 January 2016. The programme comprises two 3-month phases. During the first three months, each participant receives a monthly stipend of S$3500. Should a company be successfully formed after the first phase, EF Singapore will invest a further S$25,000 for an 8% equity stake. The total investment (including stipends) in each successfully formed company is approximately S$50,000.

Ms Foo Chi Hsia, High Commissioner for the Republic of Singapore, said, “This exciting partnership between Entrepreneur First and Infocomm Investments is a testament to the strong and growing UK-Singapore cooperation in the innovation and technology sphere. We hope to see more technology companies in the UK embark on collaborations with their Singapore counterparts for mutual benefit.”

Commenting on the excellent relationship between both firms, Zach Tan, Director of Infocomm Investments’ London office, said, “As an investor in Entrepreneur First, we believe there are strong causes for Singapore. Entrepreneur First has pioneered a unique model of building startups and we are working with them to co-create a Singapore equivalent. We want to make Singapore a conducive place for entrepreneurs to thrive. Entrepreneur First is part of our ongoing efforts to do that and we invite interested parties to join us. When a group of talented individuals come together in the right environment, we believe magic happens.”