[Edaily Marketin Soyoung Park Reporter] Efforts to connect cross-border capital with Asian deep-tech companies are becoming increasingly diverse. The investment network, which had been centered on South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, has recently expanded to include Singapore. The vision is to combine the technological capabilities of South Korea and Japan with Singapore’s capital and infrastructure.

In fact, there is a growing movement in Singapore to proactively identify South Korean deep-tech companies and support their proof-of-concept (PoC) testing and commercialization locally. Efforts are also underway to establish cross-border funds that will subsequently expand into Japan and Southeast Asia. It remains to be seen whether Singapore will establish itself as a new commercialization hub for South Korean deep-tech companies seeking to enter the Asia-Pacific market.

Singapore Seeks to Attract Korean and Japanese Deep Tech

According to the South Korean investment banking (IB) industry on the 28th, Auxos Ventures—a Singapore-based venture builder and investment firm specializing in deep tech—is moving to raise a new $100 million (approximately 140 billion won) fund locally. Auxos Ventures is targeting not only high-net-worth individuals from Japan and Singapore but also South Korean corporate venture capital (CVC) firms and family offices as initial limited partners (LPs).

Using the fund’s capital, Auxos Ventures aims to identify deep-tech startups operating in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, with South Korea as its primary target market. The firm plans to utilize Singapore as its main commercialization hub to nurture these startups through a venture-building approach.

The firm is also finalizing plans to assist with proof of concept (PoC) and research and development (R&D) based on the technology needs of local government agencies and global conglomerates. Investment decisions and timing will be evaluated as part of the commercialization support process. Key investment targets include advanced materials, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, computing, aerospace and defense, energy, and marine technology.

To this end, Oxus Ventures has previously signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Moringa Ventures, a local venture builder specializing in deep tech. The two companies will assist Korean deep tech startups in expanding overseas. In particular, they will use Singapore as a springboard to actively pursue venture building and investment partnerships.

The reason Oxos Ventures is planning to build a deep-tech venture ecosystem based in Singapore is clear: not only is capital readily available, but the infrastructure necessary for deep-tech companies to commercialize their technologies—including regional offices of global corporations, government agencies, testbeds, and advanced manufacturing infrastructure—is all concentrated in one place.

Shin Seong-min, CEO of Oxos Ventures, said, “Singapore is a financial hub where global VCs gather as a hub for Asia,” adding, “The infrastructure to attract overseas technology and nurture it locally is already in place.”

Capital, Test Beds, and

Global Networks All in One Place

Singapore is currently accelerating the development of its deep-tech industry. Last year, Singaporean deep-tech startups raised a total of $1.133 billion (approximately 1.5412 trillion won). This represents a 16% increase from the previous year’s $980 million (approximately 1.3331 trillion won).

The Singaporean government is also accelerating its efforts to foster the deep tech industry. The government has unveiled the RIE2030 plan, which will invest 37 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 39.3958 trillion won) in research, innovation, and enterprise development over the next five years, starting this year.

In March of this year, the government announced an additional allocation of 1 billion Singapore dollars (approximately 1.0652 trillion won) to Startup SG Equity to support early- and growth-stage deep-tech startups. Startup SG Equity is a program through which the Singapore government supports deep-tech investments by co-investing with private investors or contributing capital to venture capital (VC) funds.

The industry assesses that, like Taiwan, Singapore is a market with sufficient potential to serve as a commercialization hub within the Asia-Pacific region. This is because the market can be expanded to include Malaysia, allowing for the utilization of both regions’ R&D capabilities and manufacturing infrastructure. Currently, Singapore is collaborating with Malaysia to jointly develop and operate the Johor-Singapore Economic Zone. Therefore, it is considered a viable strategy to use Singapore as a base to enter the Southeast Asian market, expand operations from there, and eventually pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in third countries, such as the United States, in the long term.

An official in the venture capital industry stated, “As the preference for Korean startups is rising across global markets, there is a growing trend to nurture promising Korean startups locally and jointly target the global market,” adding, “Depending on each company’s business model and conditions for investment recovery, various strategies—such as establishing joint ventures (JVs)—can be considered.”