Food and Seed Funding in Singapore
November 13th, 2009 by Andreas BrennerDuring a recent trip to Singapore, I had the opportunity of meeting outstanding people from the local Sandbox community. It was my second stay in Singapore and it was encouraging to see how Singapore had changed over the last 3 years: most visibly though the addition of the Singapore ‘Flyer’ (a bigger version of the ‘London Eye’) and construction work on Sentosa and the Marina Bay, but also through the dynamic and international atmosphere that governs Singapore. 
Meeting local Sandboxers gave me an excellent insight on what the current trends in Singapore are and what the different opportunities for entrepreneurship are. The attending Sandboxers were: Zhihan Lee, an engineering student at National University of Singapore (NUS) with a strong interest in entrepreneurship; Lek Sze Min, also an NUS student with experience in entrepreneurship in the medical technology industry; Gwendolyn Tan, a current entrepreneur in the media industry in Singapore; and aspiring Sandboxer Marcus Kuhn, a current double degree student at the University of St. Gallen and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
We started off the evening in Chinatown where Zhihan and Lek brought us to the local food center with delicious, authentic local food. The discussion started off with what Singapore is like as a local, which, in many ways, is similar to other small countries (with valuable insight from Marcus (representing Switzerland) and me (from Luxembourg)). Over dinner, topics ranged from living in different countries (Lek and Zhihan were living in Sweden for a year, as part of their university programme), travelling, the lifestyle of an expat in Singapore, Gwendolyn’s year-long experience in the Bay area, how to start a business in Singapore (most of the seed capital provided by government bodies) and what the current trends in Singapore are. We finished the evening by having drinks at Clarke Quay in a very chilled-out atmosphere.
Sandbox dinners/drinks are a great way to connect with dynamic, like-minded people who have similar aspirations in life and are truly passionate about what they’re doing. Looking back, I definitely got the taste to potentially come to Singapore for an extended period, as Singapore is a true innovation hub within Asia. I’m bringing back great memories from this dinner and I’m very glad to have met Zhihan, Lek, Gwendolyn and Marcus! And kudos to Andi Brenner for setting up the dinner!
Yves Modert is currently an Analyst with McKinsey & Co. and came to Singapore to explore the business landscape to prepare for a potential future stay.
