What start-up ideas are brewing out of Singapore lately?

Ever wondered what new pre-series A tech start-ups are being formed by Singapore based founders? There is no real hard statistical evidence available, but ironically we had our own internal information that could give a good glimpse of what start-ups ideas are brewing.

Here at Angels Gate Advisory, which promotes Singapore entrepreneurship, we have conducted over 400 one-to-one free advisory sessions to start-ups since 2012. In our curiosity, we categorised 100 start-ups that we have advised in 2015. And here is what we found:

Our observations

1. Majority of these start-ups who come are in idea / angel stage, hoping to get feedback on their product, business plans, fund-raising and a variety of topics. Some come as a solo founder, some with a dynamic team of highly skilled experienced people. Ages range as young as 17 to as mature as 55. Some have great business ideas but are not sure of technology and how to execute. Our top 2 biggest questions we get are, “Can you find me a tech co-founder?” and “Can you introduce us a developer?” (and watch our eyes roll… not again!)
2. Despite a crowded and very small domestic market, the top group of entrepreneurs who come to us are eCommerce merchants. They sell anything from floral deliveries, fashion, pre-owned items, last minute tickets, specialised limited edition items to digital content like crowdsourced user generated content. They believe that there is a demand for such products which can be expanded into the region. Believing in the same feel are those who build products that support online and offline commerce. For offline commerce, they build products from innovative PoS systems, cashback, queuing systems to marketing and advertising platforms to help merchants sell their products offline to online.
3. Entrepreneurs also play to Singapore’s industry strengths, which are finance, property and education. While they may do well in the Singapore market, challenges remain for all three industries as they can be difficult to scale into other markets due to regulations, differences in operating style and many other factors.
4. What surprised us was the group of entrepreneurs who are involved in HR management systems. They are finding creative ways to simplify and improve recruitment, motivation and retention processes using qualitative methods. We still feel HR is a subjective topic when speaking with HR department heads and not everyone believes there is a specific method of hiring. Still, we get entrepreneurs trying HR out.
5. Travel is an idea that has lost flavour among entrepreneurs. Maybe there are too many travel apps out there or the incumbents are doing a great job that disruption is not easy unless you have big funds to back you. Services using tech is one interesting one. It is difficult to scale up due to more manpower required but profits margins are high.

So this will give a little gauge of what ideas are being built upon. Not really exciting or forefront like Tesla, but maybe one day it will come. In the meantime, keep on thinking and growing your ideas!

Angels Gate Advisory is supported by Singaporean businessmen who wish to pay-it-forward and give back to the community. It provides free clinic advisory sessions to all Singapore start-ups who need advisory on various topics like business structure, go-to-market, strategies, founder conflict resolutions and fund-raising. In return, it hopes fellow entrepreneurs will join the movement and build a vibrant ecosystem.

This article is part of the Share! Series, exclusive on Tech in Asia, where entrepreneurs share their experiences and best practices to the community.