Challenging economic conditions raise the bar for nascent biotech startups as funding dries up

[SINGAPORE] As investors turn more cautious amid the uncertain economic climate, early-stage biomedical startups in Singapore may face higher hurdles in their quest for more funding, industry watchers told The Business Times.

“We have found that fewer companies or fewer investors are willing to invest early, given the high risk of macroeconomic factors,” said Tong Hsien-Hui, executive director for investments at SGInnovate, a government-backed deep-tech ecosystem builder.

“So they tend to invest later – in other words, de-risk as much of the science as possible,” he noted, adding that investors are stepping up on “due diligence”.