Growth-stage funding gap holds back aspiring unicorns, say panellists

Singapore

WITH early-stage startup investors chasing high return multiples and late-stage backers sticking to proven business models, a funding gap at the growth stage - also known as the Series C and D stage - has created a bottleneck for aspiring unicorns, said panellists at the Singapore FinTech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SFF x SWITCH) 2019.

This funding gap holds startups back from realising their full potential, said Nick Nash, co-founder and managing partner of growth equity firm Asia Partners. The firm's research has even suggested that a startup which is at the stage where it is raising more than US$100 million has it three to four times easier than a startup trying to raise US$90 million.