In 2022, after 6 fruitful years with UiPath, I have embarked on my entrepreneurial journey, as investor, strategic advisor and mentor for startups and scaleups. I have started my advisory company: Global Digital Ventures, which aim is to support SEA tech startups expanding into Europe and the US markets, and European tech tech startups venturing into Asian markets.

In this process, I aimed first to understand the social, cultural and business differences and similarities between different tech startup ecosystems across the world. Subsequently, in the past 2 years and a half, I have met, discussed with and advised more than 100 startups across SEA and CEE.

Tech start-up ecosystem maturity

When talking with startups, my first observation was about their tech maturity level. The US stands out as the most mature tech ecosystem, serving as a benchmark for startups in Southeast Asia and Europe. Many Singaporean startups aim to expand into the US as their first international market, attracted by its market size and abundant funding opportunities. However, I also seen in the past 2-3 years significant growth potential in Central and Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. These regions share many similarities, including a strong interest in AI, deep tech, cybersecurity and substantial support from both the corporate world and government sectors.

Global vs. regional vs. local expansion ambitions

One noticeable difference among companies in the US, Europe, and Asia is their ambition or willingness to become global entities. In the US, startups naturally aspire to go global quickly. In Europe, this ambition is more moderate, partly due to the fragmented nature of the region, which presents various challenges when expanding into different countries. In Asia, the ambition to become global is even lower, often influenced by societal and educational structures. There’s a growing debate in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries about encouraging children and teenagers to be more ambitious, bold, and entrepreneurial. This is an area where the US and some European countries (some of the Scandinavian countries, as well as Estonia, UK) excel, fostering a global mindset from an early age.

You can find the entire article published by The Recursive:

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If you are a start-up from Singapore looking to expand globally or if you a start-up from Europe looking to expand into Singapore, other Asian markets, you can reach out to me for an intro discussion via My Contact Page!