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When Noah Pepper landed in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic, he expected to stay for one year.

Two years later, he had raised $27.5 million and built Multiplier Holdings—an AI-powered platform transforming professional services—with Singapore as its headquarters.

Noah isn’t your typical first-time founder. He co-founded Lucky Sort (acquired by Twitter), led Stripe’s Asia Pacific expansion, and spent a decade in Silicon Valley’s startup ecosystem.

Yet Singapore offered something different. Something that made him rethink not just where to live, but how to build a truly global company.

This guide breaks down exactly how Noah, and founders like him, are leveraging Singapore’s unique advantages to launch ventures that scale across Asia and beyond.

Is Singapore right for your startup?

Before diving into logistics and tactics, let’s address the fundamental question: Should you actually build from Singapore?

For most founders, the answer depends on four key factors.

Your product needs regional market access

Singapore works best when you’re building for Asia-first or global markets from day one.

Noah saw this firsthand at Stripe, where he led regional expansion across diverse Asian markets—each with different payment systems, regulations, and customer needs.

“Coming from the Bay Area, it was amazing to end up in a city that was economically vibrant, but in a much more diverse way,” Noah explains. “I was meeting people leading APAC arms of so many different kinds of businesses—not just tech.”

This diversity matters because it forces you to think beyond a single market. Your product must work across Singapore’s finance sector, Indonesia’s e-commerce boom, and Australia’s enterprise market simultaneously.

Singapore is ideal for:

• B2B SaaS targeting Asian enterprises
• Fintech serving regional markets
• Professional services transformation (like Multiplier)
• AI platforms requiring diverse data and use cases
• Companies needing proximity to manufacturing and logistics hubs

You value strategic stability over chaos

Silicon Valley celebrates chaos. Move fast, break things, pivot constantly.

Singapore’s government takes the opposite approach—and that’s precisely its strength.

“I was really impressed by the thoughtfulness and pragmatism of the Singapore government,” Noah recalls. “I remember taking a walk and sharing a coffee with a leader from the public sector shortly after moving here, and being struck by how long-term and strategic their thinking is.”

That long-term thinking translates into founder-friendly policies like Tech.Pass and ONE Pass—visas specifically designed to give entrepreneurs the legal certainty they need to take risks.

For Noah, this mattered deeply: “Because of the flexibility of Tech.Pass and ONE Pass, I was able to take on a lot of risk with the business—knowing that even if it failed, I’d still be able to provide continuity for my family.”

Compare that to the H-1B lottery system many founders face in the US, where visa uncertainty can derail your entire venture.

You’re ready to rethink your business model

Here’s where Singapore gets interesting.

Noah didn’t just relocate an existing business. Singapore’s ecosystem helped him completely reimagine what he was building.

He started with a typical Silicon Valley playbook: build a B2B SaaS product, sell to tech companies, scale through software.

“Being in Singapore helped me think more expansively,” Noah explains. “I was exposed to a broader community of senior leaders across sectors and geographies.”

Those conversations—with finance executives, manufacturing leaders, and traditional industry heads—pushed him toward a bigger vision: using AI to transform the entire professional services sector.

The result? Multiplier Holdings, which acquires and modernizes tax, accounting, and advisory firms using technology. It’s not pure software. It’s software + services + human expertise—multiplied through AI.

That pivot wouldn’t have happened in San Francisco’s tech monoculture

You can commit to Community Building

Singapore’s startup ecosystem is smaller than Silicon Valley’s. That’s both a constraint and an opportunity.

The constraint: You can’t coast on ambient networking. There aren’t random coffee shop encounters that turn into partnerships.

The opportunity: The community is incredibly accessible, with government backing to connect founders, investors, and corporate leaders.

Noah credits EDB (Singapore’s Economic Development Board) with accelerating his network: “As I’ve been building my team—and finding peers to learn from—EDB’s events have introduced me to lots of tech and business leaders. That’s been really valuable and through those networks I’ve developed relationships that are meaningful both personally and professionally.”

If you’re willing to show up, engage authentically, and contribute to the ecosystem, Singapore rewards that commitment fast.

How to launch your startup in Singapore: 5 Steps

Ready to make the move? Here’s the tactical roadmap Noah and other successful founders follow.

Step 1: Secure your legal foundation

Start with your visa status. Everything else depends on this.

Singapore offers two primary paths for founders:

Tech.Pass is designed for established tech founders and leaders. You need to meet criteria like:

• Founded or led a tech company valued at $500M+, or
• Led a product/engineering team at a $500M+ tech company for 5+ years, or
• Raised significant venture funding for a tech startup

ONE Pass is broader, targeting top-tier talent across industries. Requirements include:

• Monthly salary of at least SGD 30,000 (roughly USD 22,000), or
• Exceptional achievements in your field

Both passes give you flexibility that traditional employment passes don’t. You can start a company, work for multiple companies, or even take time between ventures without losing your legal status.

Action steps:

• Document your track record (acquisitions, leadership roles, funding raised)
• Gather recommendation letters from recognized industry figures
• Apply through the Ministry of Manpower portal (process typically takes 4-8 weeks)
• Once approved, you have validity to build without visa anxiety

💡 Pro tip: Start your application 3-4 months before you need to relocate. The certainty is worth the early investment.

Step 2: Tap into strategic capital and networks

Once you’re legally established, leverage Singapore’s unique funding ecosystem.

Noah raised $27.5 million across Seed and Series A rounds with a mix of global VCs (Ribbit Capital, Lightspeed Ventures) and strategic local investors (EDBI).

EDBI’s participation matters beyond the capital. As the investment arm of the Singapore government, EDBI brings:

1. Validation for other investors
2. Introductions to regional corporate partners
3. Understanding of local and regional markets
4. Long-term patient capital mentality

“Singapore is a major node in the global network that we’re building,” Noah explains. “A place with rich diversities in its industries, and where regional leadership of many businesses are based. We can access talent, capital, and customers across Asia and beyond.”

Where to start:

• Join EDB’s Global Founder Programme for curated introductions
• Attend quarterly investor showcase events
• Connect with portfolio founders at target firms
• Build relationships before you need capital (6-12 months ahead)

Note: Singapore investors often move faster than US counterparts on term sheets, but they’ll dig deeper into regional go-to-market strategy. Have your APAC expansion thesis ready.

Step 3: Build your core team strategically

Singapore’s talent market is different from Silicon Valley. Smaller, but with distinct advantages.

What you’ll find:

• Strong operational and execution talent
• Deep expertise in finance, logistics, and traditional industries
• Multilingual professionals with regional market knowledge
• Disciplined, detail-oriented work culture

Noah’s approach at Multiplier shows how to navigate this:

The Multiplier team 

• Hire for regional expertise first: Find people who understand Asian markets, even if they’re not from traditional tech backgrounds
• Use visas to attract international talent: Singapore’s Employment Pass makes it relatively easy to bring in specialists
• Partner with universities: NUS and NTU produce strong technical graduates
• Build distributed from day one: Use Singapore as headquarters, but hire globally where talent is strongest

Step 4: Rethink your product for global markets

Here’s where Singapore’s diversity becomes your strategic advantage.

In San Francisco, you’re surrounded by tech companies solving tech company problems. Everyone’s building the same type of SaaS for the same type of customer.

Singapore forces you to expand your aperture.

Noah experienced this transformation directly: “Being in Singapore helped me think more expansively. I was exposed to a broader community of senior leaders across sectors and geographies.”

Those conversations pushed Multiplier beyond pure software into a hybrid model:

1. AI technology to automate repetitive professional services tasks
2. Human expertise to handle complex client relationships
3. Acquisition strategy to consolidate fragmented traditional firms
4. Scalable delivery model that works across tax, accounting, and advisory

This wouldn’t have emerged from a San Francisco tech bubble perspective.

Step 5: Structure for Day-One global operations

If you’re building from Singapore, build global from the start. Not regional. Not “Asia-first then maybe global.” Actually global.

Legal structure:

1. Incorporate in Singapore for headquarters (strong IP protection, business-friendly)
2. Establish subsidiaries in key markets as you scale
3. Keep IP ownership at Singapore parent company level

Operational approach:

1. Use Singapore’s time zone advantage (overlap with Asia, accessible to US/Europe)
2. Set up asynchronous communication norms for distributed teams
3. Leverage Singapore’s infrastructure for regional travel (Changi Airport makes anywhere in Asia a 6-hour flight)

Market entry sequence:

1. Prove concept in Singapore: Small market, sophisticated customers, good testing ground
2. Expand to mature Asian markets: Australia, Japan, South Korea for revenue
3. Scale to high-growth markets: Indonesia, Vietnam, India for volume
4. Enter Western markets: US, Europe once you’ve proven Asia works

Noah positions Multiplier exactly this way: “Singapore is a major node in the global network that we’re building—a place with rich diversities in its industries, and where regional leadership of many businesses are based.”

Not the only node. A major node in a global network.

Real results: What success looks like

Let’s talk numbers and outcomes. Noah’s journey from pandemic arrival to $27.5 million raise took roughly two years. That timeline included:

• Relocating his family
• Securing Tech.Pass status
• Pivoting his business model
• Building an initial team
• Closing Seed and Series A rounds
• Launching Multiplier Holdings publicly

Multiplier Holdings co-founder Noah and his family in Singapore

The capital came from top-tier global VCs (Ribbit, Lightspeed) plus strategic local participation (EDBI). That combination signals something important: Singapore-based startups can attract world-class capital while maintaining regional strategic advantages.

Beyond funding, Noah cites the network effects: “EDB’s events have introduced me to lots of tech and business leaders. That’s been really valuable and through those networks I’ve developed relationships that are meaningful both personally and professionally.”

Your next steps

If you’ve read this far, you’re seriously considering Singapore.

The founders who succeed in Singapore share one trait: they commit fully. Not hedging, not keeping one foot in the US, not treating it as a temporary experiment.

Noah and his family arrived expecting to stay one year. Two years later, they’ve built something lasting—a global company, headquartered in Singapore, with ambitions that span continents.

“Singapore is a major node in the global network that we’re building,” Noah explains. “It’s an ideal launchpad for a global-first venture.”

For the right founder, with the right business, Singapore isn’t just another option. Singapore is the launchpad to take your business global.

If your company needs  help filing taxes for the year 2025 or requires assistance with Singapore incorporation, economy, banking, etc., feel free to call /WhatsApp us at +65 90612851 or email us at aceglobalacct@gmail.com. Alternatively, you may leave us a reply using our contact form below.

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