Singapore tops, China drops as best startup ecosystem in Asia Pacific

Singapore now has the highest-ranked startup ecosystem in the Asia Pacific, according to StartupBlink’s Startup Ecosystem Index 2022. But China, which was previously the continent’s best, slipped to third.

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Australia improved to second place, while India and Japan took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Fintech made the difference for Singapore, as the study called the space the city-state’s “overperforming industry.” While Singapore ranked 10th globally for the industry, it entered the world’s top 30 for other markets like edtech, ecommerce, and retail.

“Singapore’s public sector is highly supportive of the startup ecosystem, but the country should be careful not to turn this support into a dependency,” said the report. The country should focus on talent acquisition and maintaining competitiveness, it added.

As far as cities are concerned, Beijing and Shanghai landed in the top two spots in the region, followed by Bangalore, New Delhi, and the Tokyo-Yokohama area. But China’s performance as a country saw the biggest loss among those in the top 10. The study said a lack of local-focused startups and “friction” between founders and the government were some of its challenges.

“In the long run, China is the only country other than the US that can directly contend for global entrepreneurial leadership. To do that, China should aim internationally, and that can only be done by connecting to the global internet and allowing Chinese entrepreneurs to flourish,” said the report.

Meanwhile, Indonesia continued its positive momentum for the third year in a row, breaking into the top 40 globally this year. Jakarta was ranked the second-highest city in Southeast Asia for startups.

See also: The leading Asian tech players eyeing an IPO in 2022 and beyond