November 18, 2021
Singapore has a thriving tech ecosystem, particularly in fintech. Singapore’s fintech sector has been growing rapidly. There are now more than 1,000 fintech companies based in Singapore, up from less than 100 in 2015, and those companies have more than 10,000 employees, according to Oliver Wyman. More than 40 percent of all fintech companies in Southeast Asia are based in Singapore.
Singapore’s top fintech companies have received a total funding of $3.1 billion, according to Crunchbase. Funding for fintech companies in Singapore is expected to total $3 billion in 2021 alone, as Sopnendu Mohanty, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s chief fintech officer, told Bloomberg TV.
The technology scene in Singapore is so promising that major US venture capital firms have opened offices in Singapore, including Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Singapore has been actively nurturing fintech startups. There is public financing of startups as well as a number of innovation labs, according to Oliver Wyman. Singapore also tries to ensure that regulation does not stifle fintech innovation. Singapore’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox allows fintech startups to experiment with new products and services in a relaxed regulatory environment for a specified period of time.
Singapore is particularly well-positioned for B2B fintech startups. More than half of all multinational companies in Asia have their regional headquarters in Singapore, which makes partnering with large companies all the easier in Singapore. There is also substantial cross-border collaboration in Singapore. Singapore is recognized to have a strong talent pool for fintech, nurtured by partnerships between Singapore’s government and educational institutions. Singapore even has an annual fintech festival that attracts participants from all around the world.
Fintech startups in Singapore include Nium, a B2B payments startup valued at more than $1 billion. However, most fintech companies in Singapore are early-stage.
Opportunities in the US
There are substantial opportunities for Singapore fintech companies to expand into the US. In recent years, fintech has seen sustained growth in the US. Fintech’s largest market segment in the US is digital payments, according to Statista. Major fintech companies in the US include Stripe, Robinhood, Affirm, and SoFi. Stripe, the payments company, is valued at $95 billion, and Affirm recently had an IPO. Both consumers and businesses in the US have become increasingly comfortable with using fintech rather than just traditional financial services.
The US is a large market with enormous opportunities, with a population of more than 300 million people and millions of businesses. The potential customer base of both individuals and companies is massive.
For these reasons, if you’re building a fintech company in Singapore, there is a large opportunity in expanding into the US market today. At Alariss, we have worked with Singaporean and Southeast Asian fintech companies in advancing their presence in the US market. If you’re interested, consider working with Alariss to fuel your expansion into the US. We source top US sales and business development talent and make it easy to hire and legally pay them through our Employer of Record (EOR) platform. To learn more, you can book a call with us here.
