Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin recently lauded the Indian start-up potential, saying that although the Indian start-up market is a few years behind China's, it is a market still worth betting on.
He said this during a panel discussion at Forbes Global CEO Conference last month held in Singapore. Saverin added his investment company B Capital is deploying "a lot of dollars" into India and is thinking about the long-term success of new companies there.Saverin believes that much of the growth in India will come from enterprise tech companies. These are tech companies providing services to businesses. He said that his company has put money into an electronic health records company and a contract management company."I think India is a huge market with just tremendous potential," CNCB reported him saying in response to a question on why India's start-up ecosystem has not generated better returns. "And I think as the market continues to mature, and as you get into a better macroeconomic environment, it is a market to bet on, combined with Southeast Asia."
India itself has a very vibrant start-up scene. India is the 3rd largest ecosystem for startups globally with over 77,000 startups. Besides India, Singapore remains another exciting destination for investors.
Last week EnterpriseSG (Enterprise Singapore) reported that venture funding in Singapore expanded by an impressive 54 per cent in the first six months of this year to reach SGD8.18 billion (USD5.71 billion) compared to the same period last year.
Funding stood at SGD14.7 billion (USD10.26 billion) for the full year of 2021 and grew 45 per cent per annum between 2017 and 2021. The government agency said that Singapore's innovation and startup ecosystem has continued to experience strong growth over the past five years, remaining vibrant and resilient amid the pandemic.
EnterpriseSG is a government agency within Singapore's Trade and Industry Ministry which supports Singapore SMEs (small and mid-size enterprises) by helping them upgrade their capabilities, innovate, transform and develop internationally. It also supports the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and start-ups and builds trust in Singapore's products and services through quality and standards.
Singapore has established itself as a startup hub, attracting regional entrepreneurial talent and companies to its shores. Indian companies are no exception.
They are attracted by its favourable tax rates, strong infrastructure, stable government, simple business rules and legal environment. The country's advanced technology ecosystem and innovation-driven policies are seeing a growing number of Indian startups make Singapore their gateway into the larger ASEAN market.
Many venture capital firms have also set up a base in Singapore allowing startups to have ample access to financing, making the city-state an ideal location in Southeast Asia to raise funds.