Singapore’s early-stage deep-tech start-ups attracted more deals in 2024 even as total funding fell, underscoring investor caution in a volatile market. According to SGInnovate’s annual landscape report, deal count rose to 56 from 49 a year earlier, while overall funding slipped 8% to US$371 million ($475.8 million).
The mixed results show that investors are gravitating toward earlier-stage opportunities viewed as less exposed to economic volatility.
Intermediate funding rounds—including Seed+, Pre-Series A, and Series A+ stages—jumped 56% to 14 deals in 2024 from nine in 2023, suggesting founders are extending runways through bridge financing amid uncertain market conditions.
Industry trends
Two themes drove the bulk of investment: demand for computing hardware innovation and decarbonisation solutions.
Advanced manufacturing companies captured significant investor attention in 2024, reversing a three-year decline with 14 deals completed. The turnaround was driven primarily by sensors and electronics startups, which accounted for half the sector's transactions as global demand for AI-supporting computing hardware intensified.
Sustainability start-ups continued their momentum, attracting the highest deal count among Singapore's four main tech verticals for the second consecutive year. Within this sector, decarbonisation companies raised 70% of total funding value, which SGX say “could also be due to larger up-front investments required for infrastructure development”.
“Singapore’s early-stage emerging tech start-up ecosystem has demonstrated resilience amidst continued global market uncertainties. Given the sustained global discourse surrounding trade, technological sovereignty, energy security and climate change, it was expected that the advanced manufacturing and Sustainability sectors would have attracted strong investor interest over the past year,” says Tong Hsien-Hui, Executive Director – Investments at SGInnovate
While manufacturing and sustainability flourished, other sectors faced headwinds. Agrifood start-up incorporations plummeted 83% year-over-year, constrained by persistent unit economics challenges and high production costs. The sector also saw increased market consolidation, with many funding rounds comprised entirely of existing investors, reducing available capital for new entrants.
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Health and biomedical sciences showed mixed signals. New company formations went up 44% but the sector continued struggling with high capital requirements and talent shortages in late-stage development.
Cybersecurity shows promise
SGInnovate also launched an inaugural cybersecurity start-up report this year.
The report reveals that 68 new cybersecurity product companies were incorporated between 2020 and 2024, with steady formation rates of approximately 13 per year. The sector raised US$42.5 million across 10 deals in 2024, with security operations and governance/risk/compliance sub-sectors accounting for half of all transactions.
However, funding rounds remain below global benchmarks. Singapore's mean seed rounds averaged $1.8 million versus $3.3 million globally, while Series A rounds averaged $11.3 million compared to $13.6 million internationally. The investment landscape is characterised by opportunistic rather than portfolio-focused approaches, with most investors backing only single companies rather than building sector expertise, notes SG Innovate.
Looking ahead, SGInnovate flags semiconductors, photonics, and renewable energy as likely growth areas, alongside renewed interest in hydrogen and nuclear. Investors are expected to remain cautious but Singapore’s expertise in hardware and energy infrastructure could attract translational activity.
