Swiss tech group to move global HQ to Singapore, plans $500m fund

After being based in Switzerland for the past six years, Constructor Group is set to move its global headquarters to Singapore. The firm has interests in education and software development as well as investments in deeptech, healthtech, and edtech companies.

The move is already underway and is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2026.

Constructor Group founder Serg Bell, who also founded cybersecurity unicorn Acronis in 2003 / Photo credit: Arici

Constructor Group founder Serg Bell tells Tech in Asia that Singapore will become the company’s R&D hub for AI and machine learning. He predicts that about 20% to 25% of the group’s total expenses will be allocated to Singapore.

Bell is also the founder and board member of Acronis, a Singapore-born cybersecurity unicorn that shifted its home base to Switzerland in 2008. The founder resigned from Acronis’ board in October to focus on Constructor Group.

A big factor in the current change in HQ is talent.

The firm was initially drawn to Switzerland for its more favorable import and preferential double taxation treaties as well as its investors, who were more willing to fund innovative firms in the early 2000s. However, the tables have since turned in Singapore’s favor.

Universities in the city-state, after all, offer strong computing science and masters programs, drawing talent from across Asia. Deeptech companies, a particular area of interest for Constructor Group, tend to originate from “universities and near universities,” notes Bell.

The company currently has about 1,000 employees, more than 50 of whom are already based in the Singapore. It aims to double that number within the next five years.

The “top place” for an HQ

Constructor Group operates as a deeptech ecosystem with three main business arms.

First, it operates an educational unit called Constructor Knowledge. This covers its network of schools and its primary asset, Constructor University in Bremen, Germany. The company has enrolled about 8,000 students to date, and Bell expects that number to climb to the 12,000 to 15,000 in 2026.

Serg Bell speaking at Constructor University / Photo credit: Constructor University

In June, the firm announced an agreement with European developer Ten Brinke. Under the arrangement, up to 100 million euros (US$115.7 million) will be invested to set up a science park for startups and to build new research facilities within its Bremen campus.

Seeking its next US$500 million fund