The investors betting big on Singapore’s startups

Sign up for the Daily Newsletter, sent exclusively to our Premium subscribers. We break down the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community. Get the newsletter in your inbox everyday with a Premium subscription.

Hello readers,

First, there was a shortage of toilet rolls during the pandemic. Then, baking ingredients, gym equipment, and computer chips reportedly became scarce as well. The world seems to be running out of everything… except for the number of startups looking to raise funds.

Every month, we continue to see startups securing huge amounts of money, and Singapore has gotten the lion’s share of funds that were poured into the region this year. So who exactly are the venture capitalists shelling out millions or billions of dollars for Singapore’s startups?

Today we look at,

• The backers of Singapore’s startups
• The Malaysia-based car-sharing startup that’s gearing up for expansion
• Other newsy highlights such as ByteDance launching a Chinese music-streaming app and ecommerce firm Blibli acquiring Ranch Market operator in Indonesia

PREMIUM SUMMARY

The VC firms that are making the most moves in Singapore

Singapore is a hotbed for innovation, and this is reflected in the healthy flow of startups fundraising every week, as well as the growing number of unicorns in the country. (Side note: Congratulations to Carousell, Singapore’s newest unicorn!) So here’s a quick highlight on the VCs who have made some huge bets on Singapore’s tech companies in the last few months:

• Unsurprisingly, more than 70% of the VCs on the list are headquartered in Singapore. US-based investors take second place at around 20%.
• Clear front-runner: Antler leads the list with 64 deals closed over the past 24 months. Founded in 2017, Antler is an early-stage venture capital firm with a portfolio spanning five continents, and its latest deals include bookkeeping automation platform Bluesheets and cybersecurity startup Cysense.
• Up next: Coming in second is Seeds Capital, which is the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, a government agency. Seeds has made 40 deals in the last two years. Some of them include industrial tech startup Ackcio, which builds wireless monitoring solutions for various sectors, and biotech company Nuevocor, which treats heart diseases.

Read more: These are the most active investors in Singapore’s startups

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

The Malaysia-based car-sharing startup that’s gearing up for expansion