
Chart of the Day: See the meteoric rise of venture capital in Singapore
Tech startups captured the lion's share of funds.
Venture capital is arguably the most popular source of funding for Singapore-based startups, and this chart from Morgan Stanley shows the meteoric rise of VC funding in Singapore.
"While no country comes close to the United States in terms of sheer size of venture capital, Singapore has seen its venture capital increase significantly from US$12mn in 2007 to US$454mn in 2013," the report said.
Morgan Stanley added that the internet sector has been a significant beneficiary of VC funding, capturing 43% of the total venture capital over the six-year period.
The popularity of tech startups is partly due to government initiatives such as the National Research Foundation (NRF), which invests S$10mn on a 1:1 matching basis to seed VC funds to invest in Singapore-based technology start-ups.
Under the scheme, the VCs can choose to purchase NRF's share of the fund within five years by returning its capital with interest.