Singapore ranks first on the earth on the talent factor, ahead of Silicon Valley, largely as a consequence of strong scores on the access and price subfactors. That’s probably the largest surprise within the 150-page research report covering 10,000 startups and 300 partner firms.
A report by the US-based Startup Genome Project attributes Singapore’s success to its progressive policies as an incredible startup ecosystem. While Singapore’s overall rating in 2017 dropped two notches to twelfth place, this was as a consequence of two latest Chinese entrants, it said, adding that Singapore’s performance is solid and prone to proceed to grow.
The company said that along with its geographic location, which makes it a straightforward entry point into Southeast Asia’s growing tech markets, Singapore’s 1,600 to 2,400 tech startups profit from significant government subsidies, and the country’s strategies are geared toward establishing local tech startups as global players. The experience level of Singaporean talent is similarly high, with 80% of engineering teams and 74% of development teams having at the least two years of startup experience.
The founders of Singapore-based startups were the youngest on the earth, with a median age of 28.
The average salary for a software engineer in Singapore was US$35,000 (S$49,000), lower than the worldwide average of US$49,000. High salaries are one reason Silicon Valley has lost its place as a top talent destination.
In addition to talent, the general rating checked out performance (including startup exits, valuations, early-stage and growth-stage success), funding, market reach and experience, with Silicon Valley coming in top in each of those areas.
However, the report noted that the U.S. is losing dominance to Asia and Europe. Los Angeles and Chicago, for instance, saw the largest declines among the many top 20 cities, largely as a consequence of lower scores in “global connectivity.”
New entrants to the rankings, Beijing and Shanghai, got here in 4th and eighth respectively, while Boston, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Los Angeles, Seattle and Paris were the opposite ecosystems ranked higher than Singapore.
Source: Straits Times | Singapore Business Review | Today Online
