- EQDP to be expanded from S$5 billion to S$6.5 billion
- Anchor Fund top-up shows the government’s willingness to invest in high-growth companies
- Top-up of Startup SG Equity programme will help to whet investor appetite for deep-tech startups
[SINGAPORE] The top-ups to the Financial Sector Development Fund and Anchor Fund are strategic moves to bolster Singapore’s position as a leading centre for equity fundraising, observers said.
Announced in Budget 2026 on Thursday (Feb 12), the Financial Sector Development Fund will receive S$1.5 billion to expand the Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP), as part of efforts to strengthen the Republic’s equities market.
The move complements broader initiatives under the EQDP to revitalise capital markets, said Jimmy Seet, partner at consultancy PwC. It aims to increase investor participation in Singapore equities and develop the fund management industry here.
Already, the programme has boosted liquidity, improved the valuations of small and mid-cap stocks, and led to an increase of initial public offerings (IPOs), noted Chan Yew Kiang, Asean and Singapore IPO leader at EY.
“This additional injection serves as a strong signal of the government’s long‑term commitment to maintaining a deep and vibrant public markets ecosystem amid a global tightening of capital,” added Yap Wee Kee, capital markets group partner at KPMG.
The top-up expands the EQDP’s funds from S$5 billion to S$6.5 billion. To date, nearly S$4 billion has been allocated to nine asset managers, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in a press release on Thursday.
It added that it expects to appoint the next batch of EQDP managers in mid-2026.
Jayden Vantarakis, Macquarie Capital’s head of Asean equity research, noted that when fully implemented – and including the matching requirements for EQDP managers – the moves will bring the total amount of capital deployed into the Singapore equities market to at least S$13 billion.
The Anchor Fund, which was set up to attract high-quality listings to Singapore and of which Temasek is a co-investor, will get a S$1.5 billion top-up as well.
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This is a confidence-building measure, noted PwC’s Seet, saying that it will also strengthen the credibility of the portfolio companies’ capitalisation tables.
“This strategic move ultimately enhances Singapore’s appeal as a nurturing ground for innovative, high-potential enterprises,” he added.
The Anchor Fund can continue to influence its portfolio companies’ listing decisions and attract more firms to consider Singapore as their headquarters, said EY’s Chan.
However, he cautioned that “when it comes to listing… companies’ decisions will still depend on factors such as market liquidity, valuations and their long-term strategic plans”.
Additional funding and support will help to sustain the vibrancy of Singapore’s markets, but it ultimately needs a balanced ecosystem, said Seet.
This requires other parts of the financial markets to be more mature to support continued investor participation.
“My broader takeaway is that Singapore is strategically positioning itself as a leading centre for equity fundraising,” he added.
Supporting startups
The government also announced a S$1 billion top-up to the Startup SG Equity programme, which provides initial capital to catalyse private funding for promising tech startups.
The top-up addresses a structural gap, which is the lack of high growth-stage capital, noted KPMG’s Yap.
Rising deep tech, sustainability and advanced manufacturing players have found it increasingly difficult to secure sizeable follow-on funding due to selective and risk-averse investors.
The top-up will therefore be a boon to deep-tech startups in particular, as they tend to have longer gestation periods. This injection will also help such entities globalise, said Patrick Lim, chief executive officer of Action Community for Entrepreneurship.
“As Startup SG Equity is a co-investment programme between government and qualified investors, the selection of the investors will be critical to ensure its success in supporting startups,” he added.
Noting that deep tech is not a mandate for most venture capital funds in Singapore and the region, Qualgro Capital partner Neo Weisheng said the capital infusion is good for the ecosystem.
Several funds lack the expertise to assess deep-tech firms, and there is a need for someone to step in and give such startups some momentum.
“I think it’s important to have more patient capital and capital that can be more systematic in investing in deep tech – which means more than just one or two deals, (and instead) an entire portfolio,” he added.
Paul Santos, managing partner at Wavemaker Partners, said the question is no longer if startups can be built here, but if meaningful, profitable exits can happen here.
The combination of Startup SG Equity, the Anchor Fund and EQDP makes sense, and can push startups to exit and trigger a virtuous circle in which investors gain more capital and confidence to invest again.
“Successful founders and employees can help launch and grow the next generation of promising startups,” said Santos.
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