Singapore is quietly building one of Asia’s most complete
capital stacks. But founders and investors are being reminded that discipline,
not hype, will determine who makes it from pre‑seed to exit.
That was the core message from a Craft Stage panel at the FM
Singapore Summit 2026. Venture capital, public markets and secondary‑liquidity
specialists mapped out how the city‑state competes with London, New
York and San Francisco across the full lifecycle of funding.
The discussion brought together Vidushan Premathiratne, the Founder of 8 Circle /
Techt Labs, Zongxi Sia, the Partner at
Cocoon Capital, Luca Zorzino, the General Partner and Head of Singapore Illuminate
Financial, and Thom Abbott, the Head of SE Asia Primary Markets, London Stock
Exchange.
Moderator Premathiratne set the tone by contrasting Singapore’s reputation as a safe hub
with the “sophisticated ecosystem” behind it, spanning sovereign capital from
Temasek and GIC, a growing family office base, specialist VC funds and the
Singapore Exchange.
Yet the panel was clear that the market’s depth must be seen From left: Vidushan Premathiratne, Zongxi Sia, Luca Zorzino, and Thom Abbott
in context: “If you look at venture dollars raised in Q1 this year in SF,
you’re talking about $170 to $180 billion; here in Singapore, two to three
billion,” said Zorzino.
For Zorzino, Singapore works best when founders use its
advantages: regulatory clarity, specialist talent and early‑stage
capital, while accepting a different risk‑capital
flavor
than Silicon Valley.
More from the event: “When AI Is a Black Box, Traders Either Distrust It Completely or Trust It Far Too Much”: Insights from FM Singapore Summit 2026
That means building leaner, more capital‑efficient
companies, getting to profitability sooner and treating Singapore as a
Southeast Asia gateway or a regulatory beachhead for global fintech , rather
than a copy‑paste of a US model.
Contents
- 1 Building Exit-Ready Companies from Day One
- 2 London’s Bid to Plug the Funding Continuum
- 3 Investment ‘Winter’ and the AI Arms Race
- 4 Geopolitics, safety and the case for discipline
- 5 Building Exit-Ready Companies from Day One
- 6 London’s Bid to Plug the Funding Continuum
- 7 Investment ‘Winter’ and the AI Arms Race
- 8 Geopolitics, safety and the case for discipline
Building Exit-Ready Companies from Day One
Pre‑seed investor Sia focused on how governance and structure can de‑risk failure for LPs and future
investors. Cocoon insists that IP, founder employment and corporate value be
housed in a Singapore entity: “There has
to be as much value as possible housed in a safer region or more predictable
region,” he said, arguing that this makes later
US or European investors more comfortable with due diligence and corporate
governance standards.
Sia noted that most founders he backs are first‑timers,
often “techies”
who are strong on product and sales but “have
no idea what a balance sheet is.” He
described venture funding as a “double‑edged
sword”. “I
give you money, but you have to give me an exit as well”, and
stressed the need to professionalize management over time, sometimes bringing
in a CEO or CFO to handle conversations with Series A, pre‑IPO
and eventual exit counterparties.
London’s Bid to Plug the Funding Continuum
On exits, Abbott argued that London can offer Singapore‑grown
companies both public and private pathways to deeper pools of capital. He
emphasized that his role is not to “drag
companies kicking and screaming over to London”
but to help when there is a strategic rationale, such as sector expertise,
acquisition plans or access to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Abbott highlighted LSEG’s new private secondaries platform,
designed for companies that are staying private longer but need to meet
institutional investors or offer liquidity to early staff and backers. “We are
trying to be… agnostic as to whether a company is public or private,” he said,
positioning the platform as a way to extend the funding continuum between
early rounds, secondary sales and a possible IPO.
On dual listings, he warned that they only work when there
is a clear strategic rationale and a willingness to absorb the additional
costs, rather than as a flagging we’re there branding exercise.
Investment ‘Winter’ and the AI Arms Race
The panel pushed back on headlines about a prolonged
investment winter in Asia, while acknowledging a stark K‑shaped
recovery in global venture markets.
Zorzino said that while San Francisco’s
downturn “has been very much over for a while now” and capital is “essentially
unlimited” for firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI,
smaller players in Singapore still face a tougher fundraising environment and
widening disparity between “the haves
and the have‑nots.”
On AI, both investors agreed the wave is not about to end,
but will evolve. Zorzino predicted more scrutiny of unit economics as model
providers shift from “all‑you‑can‑eat” to
usage‑based
pricing: “People are going to start recognizing
that actually this workflow… automated
with Claude… actually cost me $4,500 just for
this specific workflow,” he said, arguing that some tasks
may be cheaper in low‑cost human locations than through an LLM.
Keep reading: “Singapore Banks Remain Cautious and Selective”: Web3 Firms Face Higher Compliance Demands
Sia added that Cocoon saw roughly 2,100 deals last year and “about every quarter was about 300 or so AI companies,” rising
to roughly 450 AI decks in the first quarter alone, evidence, he said, of a
bubble that “is just going to keep being around,” even as investors shift their
focus from wrappers and app layers to more defensible innovation and data‑level
moats.
Geopolitics, safety and the case for discipline
Geopolitical risk surfaced mostly as a constraint on deep‑tech
and cross‑border exits rather than a brake on early‑stage
enterprise software. Sia said early enterprise tech companies in Southeast Asia
are still largely insulated as they chase regional product‑market
fit, while deep‑tech founders must now confront whether they can serve
both US and China or must pick a side.
Zorzino pointed to banks’
desire to host open‑source models in‑house, many originating from
Chinese research labs, while weighing security and capital‑controls
risks, especially after enforcement actions like the crackdown on Manis.
Abbott argued that IPOs still rely on “a bit of stability
and less volatility” and cited a delayed flotation by Love Holidays, which had
heavy exposure to Dubai, as an example of how specific geopolitical flashpoints
can upset listing timetables.
But he said secondary‑market activity remains robust and
that both London and Singapore can benefit from being seen as relatively
neutral venues that investors use to express their own geopolitical preferences
in sectors such as resources and AI‑critical supply chains.
Singapore is quietly building one of Asia’s most complete
capital stacks. But founders and investors are being reminded that discipline,
not hype, will determine who makes it from pre‑seed to exit.
That was the core message from a Craft Stage panel at the FM
Singapore Summit 2026. Venture capital, public markets and secondary‑liquidity
specialists mapped out how the city‑state competes with London, New
York and San Francisco across the full lifecycle of funding.
The discussion brought together Vidushan Premathiratne, the Founder of 8 Circle /
Techt Labs, Zongxi Sia, the Partner at
Cocoon Capital, Luca Zorzino, the General Partner and Head of Singapore Illuminate
Financial, and Thom Abbott, the Head of SE Asia Primary Markets, London Stock
Exchange.
Moderator Premathiratne set the tone by contrasting Singapore’s reputation as a safe hub
with the “sophisticated ecosystem” behind it, spanning sovereign capital from
Temasek and GIC, a growing family office base, specialist VC funds and the
Singapore Exchange.
Yet the panel was clear that the market’s depth must be seen From left: Vidushan Premathiratne, Zongxi Sia, Luca Zorzino, and Thom Abbott
in context: “If you look at venture dollars raised in Q1 this year in SF,
you’re talking about $170 to $180 billion; here in Singapore, two to three
billion,” said Zorzino.
For Zorzino, Singapore works best when founders use its
advantages: regulatory clarity, specialist talent and early‑stage
capital, while accepting a different risk‑capital
flavor
than Silicon Valley.
More from the event: “When AI Is a Black Box, Traders Either Distrust It Completely or Trust It Far Too Much”: Insights from FM Singapore Summit 2026
That means building leaner, more capital‑efficient
companies, getting to profitability sooner and treating Singapore as a
Southeast Asia gateway or a regulatory beachhead for global fintech , rather
than a copy‑paste of a US model.
Building Exit-Ready Companies from Day One
Pre‑seed investor Sia focused on how governance and structure can de‑risk failure for LPs and future
investors. Cocoon insists that IP, founder employment and corporate value be
housed in a Singapore entity: “There has
to be as much value as possible housed in a safer region or more predictable
region,” he said, arguing that this makes later
US or European investors more comfortable with due diligence and corporate
governance standards.
Sia noted that most founders he backs are first‑timers,
often “techies”
who are strong on product and sales but “have
no idea what a balance sheet is.” He
described venture funding as a “double‑edged
sword”. “I
give you money, but you have to give me an exit as well”, and
stressed the need to professionalize management over time, sometimes bringing
in a CEO or CFO to handle conversations with Series A, pre‑IPO
and eventual exit counterparties.
London’s Bid to Plug the Funding Continuum
On exits, Abbott argued that London can offer Singapore‑grown
companies both public and private pathways to deeper pools of capital. He
emphasized that his role is not to “drag
companies kicking and screaming over to London”
but to help when there is a strategic rationale, such as sector expertise,
acquisition plans or access to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Abbott highlighted LSEG’s new private secondaries platform,
designed for companies that are staying private longer but need to meet
institutional investors or offer liquidity to early staff and backers. “We are
trying to be… agnostic as to whether a company is public or private,” he said,
positioning the platform as a way to extend the funding continuum between
early rounds, secondary sales and a possible IPO.
On dual listings, he warned that they only work when there
is a clear strategic rationale and a willingness to absorb the additional
costs, rather than as a flagging we’re there branding exercise.
Investment ‘Winter’ and the AI Arms Race
The panel pushed back on headlines about a prolonged
investment winter in Asia, while acknowledging a stark K‑shaped
recovery in global venture markets.
Zorzino said that while San Francisco’s
downturn “has been very much over for a while now” and capital is “essentially
unlimited” for firms such as Anthropic and OpenAI,
smaller players in Singapore still face a tougher fundraising environment and
widening disparity between “the haves
and the have‑nots.”
On AI, both investors agreed the wave is not about to end,
but will evolve. Zorzino predicted more scrutiny of unit economics as model
providers shift from “all‑you‑can‑eat” to
usage‑based
pricing: “People are going to start recognizing
that actually this workflow… automated
with Claude… actually cost me $4,500 just for
this specific workflow,” he said, arguing that some tasks
may be cheaper in low‑cost human locations than through an LLM.
Keep reading: “Singapore Banks Remain Cautious and Selective”: Web3 Firms Face Higher Compliance Demands
Sia added that Cocoon saw roughly 2,100 deals last year and “about every quarter was about 300 or so AI companies,” rising
to roughly 450 AI decks in the first quarter alone, evidence, he said, of a
bubble that “is just going to keep being around,” even as investors shift their
focus from wrappers and app layers to more defensible innovation and data‑level
moats.
Geopolitics, safety and the case for discipline
Geopolitical risk surfaced mostly as a constraint on deep‑tech
and cross‑border exits rather than a brake on early‑stage
enterprise software. Sia said early enterprise tech companies in Southeast Asia
are still largely insulated as they chase regional product‑market
fit, while deep‑tech founders must now confront whether they can serve
both US and China or must pick a side.
Zorzino pointed to banks’
desire to host open‑source models in‑house, many originating from
Chinese research labs, while weighing security and capital‑controls
risks, especially after enforcement actions like the crackdown on Manis.
Abbott argued that IPOs still rely on “a bit of stability
and less volatility” and cited a delayed flotation by Love Holidays, which had
heavy exposure to Dubai, as an example of how specific geopolitical flashpoints
can upset listing timetables.
But he said secondary‑market activity remains robust and
that both London and Singapore can benefit from being seen as relatively
neutral venues that investors use to express their own geopolitical preferences
in sectors such as resources and AI‑critical supply chains.
SOURCE LINK : “For Founders, Singapore Is Less a Destination and More a Launchpad”: Lessons from FM Singapore Summit 2026
