The two-year MOU will help startups gain deep insights into industry trends, financing options and R&D

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has signed a two-year MOU with government research institute Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) to boost support for startups.

The partnership will see SGX work with A*STAR’s commercialisation arm, ETPL, to help startups access public and private capital markets and accelerate R&D efforts.

This means startups will be able to access A*STAR’s multidisciplinary R&D capabilities fields such as biomedical sciences, physical sciences and engineering.

They will also receive productisation and business development from ETPL.

SGX will organise forums to educate startups about different financing options, capital-raising strategies, business models, industry trends and market expansion opportunities.

“By marrying our capital markets expertise with ETPL’s technology commercialisation capabilities, we look forward to playing a part in nurturing competitive and future-ready companies and strengthening Singapore’s position as a technology hub,” said Chew Sutat, Head of Equities and Fixed Income, SGX.

The partnership is targetted at startups in the medtech, biotech, cleantech, digital tech and consumer tech industry, said an official press release.

Six professionals from the following firms, SAC Capital, UOB Kay Hian, Virtus Law, WongPartnership, Deloitte Singapore and PwC Singapore, will come onboard to provide their expertise.

“Access to finance and in-house technological capabilities continue to be key challenges for entrepreneurs in today’s increasingly competitive business environment,” said Philip Lim, CEO of ETPL.

Also Read: SGX-IMDA tie-up is important first step, but will not fix tech-IPO drought

“The SGX-ETPL partnership will leverage each other’s complementary strengths to address these challenges, and help grow a pipeline of quality enterprises and promising intellectual properties that deliver greater economic impact for Singapore.”

This move comes just a month after SGX partnered with Accreditation@IMDA, a government-backed programme that supports and invests in early-stage growth startups. This partnership, similarly, aims  to help startup access capital markets.

SGX has been actively bolstering its presence in the tech sector in recent years. This includes the launch of a fundraising platform CapBridge, a capital-raising platform for early-stage small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

There is currently a dearth of startups listed on the SGX. Most Singapore startups chose to go public on the ASX, instead, where investors are more tech savvy. These developments can be seen as a prolonged campaign by SGX to reverse its fortunes.

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