Challenges for startups

Jasmine Koh

[Transcript]

The key issues that we have been seeing is access to capital. That's always been an issue with startups and even more so in the current environment.

We're also seeing a war on talent, in that startup founders are seeking for talented people who will help with their businesses. There is a lot of competition even between startups in specific industries and specific spaces. People do know that they're in demand and so it is a question of who can offer the best package, really, for talent out there.

In terms of trends, we're seeing a lot of startups come through in the sustained tech area. There are lots of ESG related startups and lots of startups focused on climate change and the environment, which is great. We're also seeing lots of startups come through who are in the digital economy space and obviously there is a lot of opportunity for tech startups and that has always been the case and that continues to be the case.

We're doing lots of work with capital raising. We're also doing a lot of business as usual work – supply contracts, general commercial contracts, SAS contracts, general contracting work is quite in demand in startups at the moment. We're also seeing a lot of questions from startups about privacy.

I think the softening economic outlook is going to affect startups by the lack of access to capital. There will be less tech startups in the market. However, I do believe that the one's that can survive through this period are one's with sustainable and really good products out in the market.