Singapore is ranked APAC’s best startup market

Singapore has been named the most attractive startup market in the Asia-Pacific region and has maintained its top position as Southeast Asia’s leading hub for green startups.

Singapore was ranked first in the Asia Startup Index Study by Intuit QuickBooks. The index ranked 24 Asian economies across 17 indicators. Key factors that secured the city-state’s first place were world-class broadband speeds, high levels of AI readiness and a highly educated workforce.

Singapore also ranked highly for the strength of its business landscape, reflecting what the report described as an operating environment that “remains efficient, predictable and attractive to both domestic and international founders.”

The findings reinforce Singapore’s long-standing appeal to foreign SMEs and startups seeking a stable base in Asia, particularly those with regional or global ambitions. According to previous statements by venture capital analysts, startups in Singapore are increasingly expected to expand overseas in search of capital, customers, and talent.

“Startups will increasingly develop technologies that not only address regional needs but also hold export potential to other emerging and developed markets,” said Jussi Salovaara, co-founder and managing partner at venture capital firm Antler.

In the Asia Startup Index rankings, Singapore was followed by China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Georgia and Kazakhstan completed the top ten.

A separate report by Singapore-based consultancy Padang & Co. highlights Singapore’s growing dominance in green entrepreneurship. The report analyzed 1,089 green startups and SMEs across six Southeast Asian economies, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Singapore accounted for 494 green startups, or around 45% of the regional total, placing it well ahead of Indonesia and Malaysia. The report attributes this lead to structural advantages, including strong government support, high levels of urbanization, a global orientation to capital and a greater willingness to adopt technology driven by resource constraints.

Padang & Co. described Singapore as Southeast Asia’s largest green economy startup hub, with growth potential in areas such as distributed energy, virtual power plants, demand response, smart grids, low-carbon data centers, clean energy imports and the decarbonization of manufacturing, aviation and maritime transportation.