What can we expect from Singapore’s startups in 2020?

While last year was a monumental year for the startup scene in Singapore, 2020 is expected to continue building on this success. The rapid growth of startups such as unicorns Grab and Carousell has created new jobs, while attracting global startups to move to the city state to set up headquarters or regional offices.

Given the momentum from these tech unicorns and the launch of new startups, experts say expect more roles in tech engineering, product development and marketing to become available.

So which startups to look out for? Christopher Quek, managing partner of TRIVE, an early-stage venture capitalist, has singled out a few to keep an eye on this year. The first is Shopee, which opened its Singapore headquarters in September 2019 with the capacity to accommodate up to 3,000 employees.

Another one is US-based tech firm Razer which will open its Southeast Asian headquarters in mid-2020, raising its headcount from 400 to 1,000 employees. Grab will follow suit and open its Singapore headquarters in the fourth quarter of 2020, to house 3,000 employees. Mobile streaming giant Bigo will add 500 more engineers in the next three years.

‘’There could be more acquisitions and mergers as Singapore’s startup ecosystem matures. Grab and Gojek, given their deep pockets, could make strategic acquisitions in a bid to gain a competitive edge over one another,’’ said Quek.