Deep Tech Daredevils - The Rise of Entrepreneurial Scientists in Singapore

Over the past few decades, two trends have helped trace the contours of the modern entrepreneurial scientists, defining their unique role in today’s innovation ecosystem.

The first is the evolution of research and development (R&D) work away from the big corporate lab model of closed innovation towards a fragmented, globalised model of open innovation.

The second, more recent trend is related to the emergence of the concept of “Deep Tech”, which refers to technologies based on genuine scientific discoveries that have produced novel and defensible intellectual property (IP). In a world now where anybody can theoretically become a “technology” entrepreneur, there have been efforts to carve out a niche for Deep Tech entrepreneurs, or entrepreneurial scientists.

Yet we do not know enough about what makes entrepreneurial scientists in Singapore tick. Seeking to fill that knowledge gap, SGInnovate commissioned Asian Scientist to assess entrepreneurial scientists in Singapore today. Drawing on a literature review and interviews with entrepreneurs and experts, this research examines their characteristics, their motivations, and their unique paths to entrepreneurship, including the specific opportunities and challenges they see in Singapore today.