With the renewed focus on technology and startups since PM Lee’s recent visit to Silicon Valley, we look at some of the local technology startup clusters.
Whether you’re new to the startup scene in Singapore or a veteran, these are the places that you definitely have to visit.
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Blk 71
Ask most entrepreneurs around, you’d soon realize everyone will agree on one thing – Blk71 is the Silicon Valley of Singapore where you get to see the world’s most tightly packed entrepreneurial ecosystem.
BLK71 is home to more than 100 startups, venture capital firms, education institutions, government research centers, and government offices. Dozens of entrepreneurs work here on their ideas and products. Since its launch, Blk71 has also expanded to Blk73 and Blk79, to accommodate the growth of the startup ecosystem in Singapore.
BLK 71. Photo Credit: TechInAsia.
It was initially setup by NUS Enterprise, Media Development Authority (MDA), and SingTel Innov8 to encourage and house startups in the interactive digital media (IDM) sector.
BLK71 is located at 71 Ayer Rajah Crescent, or more commonly known as One-North.
Startups at BLK71. Photo Credit: Straits Times
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NUS Enterprise
NUS is the oldest university in Singapore, and consistently ranked among the top universities in the world. To encourage and nurture young entrepreneurs, NUS Enterprise was established in 2001.
One of the center’s flagship programs is the NUS Overseas College programme, also commonly known as the NOC programme. It allows students to spend a year overseas in various startup hubs around the world, such as Silicon Valley, Beijing, Israel and more. During that year, accepted entrepreneurial students work at the local startups and also continue their education at one of the region’s local universities.
NUS Enterprise has nurtured hundreds of talented young entrepreneurs in the Singapore’s startup scene, among which included tenCube (acquired by McAfee), honestbee, Carousell, Xfers, Oddle, Zopim (acquired by Zendesk), MoneySmart and many more.
NUS Enterprise. Photo Credit: NUS Enterprise.
DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia. Photo Credit: NUS Enterprise
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NTC (Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre)
NTC was started the same year as NUS Enterprise, in 2001. It is a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University and the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore. The center focuses on nurturing young entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship classes and education.
NTC @ NTU Research Techno Plaza. Photo Credit: NTU.
The center also runs the largest business plan competition in the country — Ideas Inc. The competition is an annual startup competition for young entrepreneurs under 35, which attracts participation from many startups in Southeast Asia.
Ideas Inc. Business Challenge Grand Finals. Photo Credit: MSF Singapore.
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Fusionopolis & Fusionopolis 2
Fusionopolis1 and Fusionopolis2 were opened by the Singapore government to serve as a R&D hub for companies focused on infocomms, media, science and engineering. The goal is to bring together public and private research institutes. It serves as an environment for collaboration and experimentation.
Fusionopolis2 is also home to four A*Star research institutes. The entire A*Star family has more than 1500 researchers.
Fusionopolis Buildings. Photo Credit: ChannelNewsAsia
Prime Minister Lee opens Fusionopolis 2. Photo Credit: BioTechIn.Asia
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Biopolis
Biopolis contains research labs and institutes focused on pharmaceutical, biotechnology, neuroscience, and immunology.
The buildings span a total of 222,000 meters across 9 blocks. The 9 blocks are cleverly named: Nanos, Genome, Helios, Chromos, Proteos, Matrix, Centros, Neuros, and Immunos.
Biopolis. Photo Credit: Biopolis.
Biopolis buildings are inter-linked . Photo Credit: StraitsTimes
Other than these 5 places, there are other pockets of startups communities around in Singapore, mostly congregating around coworking spaces in Singapore. We will be publishing one on that soon so do keep a look out for that on Vulcan Post!
Did we miss out any startup hotspots in Singapore? Let us know in the comments below.
