"The most strategic country in the world": Singapore is doubling down on Israeli tech
"The most strategic country in the world": Singapore is doubling down on Israeli tech
Singapore has emerged as an extremely attractive market for Israeli entrepreneurs in recent years, as tech relations between the two nations grow. Ambassador Ian Mak tells CTech that "the impetus for technological cooperation is greater than ever," as the island state increases its investment in Israel's tech ecosystem, offering robust support to attract Israeli business and foster cross-border collaboration in areas like cybersecurity, AI, and fintech.
“I met Joel [Bar-El] at synagogue. We decided to start a company together and that’s how Trax was born - on the steps of Chabad in Singapore,” says Dror Feldheim, the COO of retail analytics unicorn Trax. Feldheim founded the company with Bar-El, who serves as chairman of the company, in 2010. Today, Trax remains headquartered in Singapore, with additional offices in the U.S. and Israel.
Feldheim is one of a number of Israeli entrepreneurs who have gravitated to Singapore in recent years, where a thriving Israeli and Jewish community, working primarily in tech, finance and venture capital, has grown. While Israel and Singapore have long enjoyed good relations, commercial ties particularly in tech have grown exponentially in the last decade plus. Singapore has committed resources to investing in Israeli tech, both via national entities as well as via private VCs. Moreover, the country has implemented robust strategies to attract international talent, including from Israel.
Before moving to Singapore in 2010, Feldheim was living in Switzerland with his family. “We wanted to be in Asia and we felt like this was the place to be for a soft landing,” says Feldheim. He describes the reception as uniquely accepting. “There’s no country that is happier to welcome Israelis. They love us here. As a state, it's super tolerant of different religions - you can’t say anything negative about other groups. And it's very international. You feel like a citizen of the world in this tiny city.”
Israeli ventures and entrepreneurs have increasingly recognized Singapore as a strategic hub not only for expanding into Asian markets, but for the ease of the Singaporean market itself. Singapore's robust infrastructure, business-friendly environment, and strategic location make it an attractive destination for Israeli companies. “Everything just works. This is one of the secrets to its success; the infrastructure is easy and everything is so accessible,” says Feldheim. “Singapore gave us everything.”
Islands of innovation
On the southernmost tip of the Malayan peninsula strategically situated between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, surrounded by Malaysia and Indonesia, venerable giants in both landmass and population, sits the city-state and island nation of Singapore. At just 750 square kilometers in area (250 square miles), roughly a third the size of Israel, and home to over 6 million, Singapore’s survival, let alone its enormous success, was far from guaranteed.
“They built everything themselves - if they didn’t have a mountain, they built it,” says Yuval Passov, the Head of Google for Startups Israel, who lived in Singapore for four years with his family.
Following a history of British colonial rule, a brutal occupation by Japan during World War Two, and a brief, turbulent federation with Malaysia, Singapore gained independence in 1965. Since then, Israel and Singapore have shared close relations. “Singapore and Israel share similar economic interests, as small states with limited natural resources. Over the decades, we have built up a close relationship based on mutual trust and respect,” said Ambassador Mak in conversation with CTech. The ambassador, whose post began a year ago, is notably the first resident Singaporean ambassador to Israel.
Israel-Singapore relations were formed shortly after the latter gained independence in 1965. Feeling vulnerable to attack from Malaysia in particular, Singapore turned to Israel, another small state beset by enemies with a history of warfare and military victory for advice. A team of Israeli military advisors, who traveled incognito as Mexican agricultural advisers so as not to arouse the ire of Indonesia and Malaysia, were sent to help design and implement Singapore's nascent defense strategy. The resulting Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) were in part modeled after the IDF, including compulsory conscription, technological superiority, and a well-trained reserve force. Israel also supplied Singapore with weapons such as tanks and missiles.
In many ways, the two states mirror one another: both small countries in landmass and population, island states (in Singapore’s case literally as well as figuratively) surrounded by much larger, sometimes hostile, predominantly Muslim neighbors. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister and founding father, referred to Singapore as “Israel in a Malay-Muslim sea.” This shared sense of vulnerability has driven both nations to prioritize defense and economic resilience, spurring them to become international hubs for tech and innovation.
“Today, the impetus for technological cooperation is greater than ever, as we face an increasingly complex array of challenges, including in climate change, the digital revolution, and growing healthcare demands,” says Ambassador Mak.
Tech and innovation now form a key pillar of Singapore-Israel relations. Israeli startups are increasingly partnering with Singaporean entities, advancing fields like cybersecurity, fintech, healthtech, and AI. Singapore, with its world-class infrastructure and pro-business policies, has become a regional hub for Israeli companies seeking expansion in Asia.
“Southeast Asia as a whole is a big opportunity for startups. The digital economy of Singapore alone is projected to be $1 trillion by 2030,” says Passov, who, since returning to Israel, has become one of the strongest advocates for strengthening ties between Israel and Singapore.
With over 6000 global MNCs, half of which use Singapore as their regional headquarters, 200 incubators and accelerators, and almost $4 trillion in assets under management in the financial sector, Singapore has become the center of innovation in Asia. “I meet Israeli VCs, startups, incubators and government agencies on a regular basis to understand their interests and outlook,” says Ambassador Mak. “There is heightened interest in strengthening linkages to Asia as the economic gravity of the world shifts eastwards. Singapore is strategically positioned as the gateway to this dynamic region, serving as a financial, digital and connectivity hub, with a highly-educated, tech-savvy and English-speaking talent pool.”
Singapore has also placed great efforts to attract talent from all over the world, including Israel, to build its tech ecosystem. “For Singapore, it doesn’t matter where the founder is from - they want to see more Singaporean companies growing there,” says Feldheim. “It's a small country and to compete, they need more talent, and to attract talent you have to be given the opportunity.”
“One of my key priorities as Singapore’s Ambassador to Israel is to strengthen and expand the connections between our two R&D and innovation ecosystems,” Ambassador Mak told CTech. The main institutional arm for bilateral collaboration is the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD) which facilitates joint innovation projects between companies from both countries, offering funding support to encourage collaboration in research and development, commercialization, and business expansion. Since its founding in 1997, SIIRD has supported nearly 200 projects, and awarded over US$105 million in research grants.
Additionally, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) has partnered with Israeli venture firm OurCrowd under its Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) program to increase joint innovation and R&D projects, providing Israeli startups with opportunities to collaborate with Singaporean companies and access new markets.
The efforts have borne fruit with several Israeli tech companies expanding their offices to Singapore including Checkpoint, SolarEdge and Similarweb, while more and more Israeli entrepreneurs have gravitated to Singapore to found their companies such as Feldheim’s Trax. Entrepreneurs who have built their companies in Singapore cite how comparatively simple it is to open a company, how much support is given by the state, particularly in fields such as cyber and fintech. “Establishing a business here is very easy - it's probably one of the easiest places in the world to do business,” says Passov.
A long-term investment
In addition to attracting Israeli talent and companies to Singapore, Singapore-based investment has also grown tremendously in Israeli tech. The Singapore Government has allocated over $20 billion over five years “to develop expertise and collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum, health and biomedical sciences, food security, climate and sustainability, and advanced manufacturing,” according to Ambassador Mak.
Not only is it "very easy" to raise money, but there is also a lot of support for growth including government support to facilitate a second round and develop companies. In Israel, where most local VC’s cater to early-stage startups, this is particularly cogent. “There’s a lot of capital here and a lot of VCs, so it's very easy to invest here. It's a small pool of investors, but an ocean compared to the Israeli VC community,” says Passov.
While sources for investment are plenty in Singapore, there has also been growing Singapore-based investment directly in the Israeli tech ecosystem. “There is an understanding that Israel is a significant hub for core tech. Everyone views Israel as the number 2 geography for startups, innovation and tech,” says Gil Prashker, Director of Innov8 VC, the Israeli arm of the Singtel Group’s innovation wing. “Israel has more unicorns than in London, Paris, Berlin etc. For cyber and enterprise security we punch above our weight compared to the US - just like Singapore.”
The Singapore-based telecommunications giant is Asia's leading communications technology group, with over 700 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Innov8 VC, Singtel’s $300 million fund, opened their Tel Aviv office in 2012 and has since invested in 16 Israeli companies out of a total of 140 companies globally. The fund invests mainly in enterprise security and AI companies in the Israeli market and their portfolio includes Israeli companies ClearX, Ctera Networks, Cato Networks, Silverfort and Sensorz, and exits including Fireglass, Flow Security, and Moment.Me.
Prashker says that the ongoing war has not impacted Singtel’s investment in Israeli companies. “We haven’t taken our foot off of the gas. We’re still deploying capital and we’re going to double down,” he says, adding that, if anything, there has been a growth of activity in Singaporean investment in the Israeli market, as part of a long-term vision that Singapore has for growth in Israel.
“Singapore is the most strategic country in the world. They set long-term goals twenty years into the future and stand behind them,” says Feldheim.
