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Ministry of Trade and Industry
3. Parliamentary replies

Written reply to PQ on fostering greater risk tolerance and strengthening Singapore's early-stage venture ecosystem

5 August 2026

Question: 

Mr Lee Hong Chuang: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) in view of Singapore's conservative startup grant framework as compared to Silicon Valley's higher-risk funding models (a) how will the Ministry address the relocation of promising entrepreneurs overseas for greater early-stage funding opportunities; and (b) what initiatives will the Government implement to foster greater risk tolerance and strengthen Singapore's early-stage venture ecosystem. 

Written Answer by Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Dr Tan See Leng  

1.           The role of Government is to foster the development of a vibrant startup ecosystem and a business-friendly environment, so entrepreneurs find it compelling to build and grow their companies here. Today, our startup ecosystem is ranked 4th in StartupBlink's 2026 Global Startup Ecosystem Index. We are also home to more than 4,500 tech startups, 500 venture capital firms, and 220 incubators and accelerators. 

2.           Under the Government's Startup SG umbrella, first-time entrepreneurs are provided with mentorship and startup capital under our Startup SG Founder Programme. We also provide support for incubators, accelerators, and venture builders through our Startup SG Accelerator programme to nurture startups. 

3.           In addition, EDB's and EnterpriseSG's SG Growth Capital (SGGC) co-invests alongside private investors through the Startup SG Equity (SSGE) scheme to crowd in private sector capital for innovative early-stage deep tech startups. SGGC also partners leading venture capital firms to grow local deep tech venture capital investment capabilities and support the growth of local deep tech startups. 

4.           The Committee on Entrepreneurship recently announced key measures to boost our startup ecosystem, under our Economic Strategy Review, to expand access to capital, talent, markets and spaces for our startups. This includes a $1 billion top-up to SSGE, and an expansion of the scheme to support growth-stage deep tech startups, a $1.5 billion injection to the Anchor Fund to help startups access public capital markets, new spaces for startups to grow in Kampong AI and Punggol Digital District, expanding our Global Innovation Alliance to open markets for our startups and mentorship and talent programmes to grow our own founders and attract promising ones to Singapore. 

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