Singapore's semiconductor industry 4.0 ecosystem

Singapore’s semiconductor industry 4.0 landscape?

Let-Lab is the innovation arm of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. ( Ultra Clean Technology ). Our vision is to accelerate the growth of sustainable, semiconductor industry 4.0 innovations into scalable ventures. After our official launch in Singapore, one of our first actions was to map the key players in the ecosystem to further the meaningful exchanges. Let-Lab team is proud to present the Singapore semiconductor industry 4.0 map. The map aims to be a comprehensive, yet easy visual reference and one-stop shop for startups, companies, supporting organizations and funds in the semiconductor industry4.0 innovation ecosystem. The map appreciates and highlights the diversity of #innovators and stakeholders, standing testimony to the vibrant deep tech start-up ecosystem of our island nation. The list is shared openly and we invite you to add your company if you are in the filed but not in the list.?

Background on Singapore’s semiconductor industry??

Comprising of global juggernauts and an ecosystem of small and mid-sized businesses, Singapore's semiconductor industry is one of the most diverse in the region. The semiconductor industry is a key contributor to the island nation’s economy, generating nearly 7% of the #gdp in 2021, as reported by The Straits Times . As the country aims to increase its #manufacturing sector by 50% by 2030, growing the electronics industry is part of that goal. There are two goals for the semiconductor industry i) sustainability and ii) transformation to industry 4.0. As they cater to the increasing demand, it is crucial for semiconductor manufacturers to assess whether the materials they are using in production, are eco-friendly and responsibly manage waste, thus achieving sustainability. Industrial transformation to industry 4.0 will be achieved through #digitaltechnologies, such as #cloudcomputing, #3dprinting, #robotics, #artificialintelligence and #machinelearning , empower manufacturing organizations to reimagine their operations while achieving Environmental, Social and Governance goals (#esg) . Let-Lab SG works together with semiconductor industry partners locally and globally to lead the way in transforming the industry towards net zero emissions, championing #sustainable, industry 4.0 innovation in the semiconductor industry.?

In a macroscopic view, Singapore's economic growth plan is built on a foundation of consistent and long-term expenditures in #researchanddevelopment (R&D). The Singaporean government announced a $25 billion R&D budget for the following five years in December 2020, 30% higher than the previous budget in the same time scope. Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, claims that this would maintain Singapore's competitiveness and strengthen the island-nation’s position as a centre for technology and innovation. The government is collaborating with businesses to improve their business continuity plans and diversify their supply chains to boost resilience in semiconductor supply networks. Additionally, it would focus on anchoring #investments from top international businesses and stepping up R&D efforts in developing semiconductor technology and innovations.?

Let-Lab enters Singapore with this backdrop, to empower innovators, innovations and accelerate their growth. As the innovation arm of UCT, through our unique value proposition, Let-Lab provides startups with office space, a real manufacturing playground, mentoring and guidance from industry experts to help the startups to develop and deploy their solutions to reach product-market fit faster and aid in their business #scalability and #sustainability .?

Innovations propel semiconductor industry 4.0 transformation?

As the semiconductor industry is undergoing an industry 4.0 transformation, there was a significant raise in the startups and innovations which aid in the transformation, over two decades. The past 6-7 years have been a boon to the startups in this space, though covid-19 did affect the raise of the startups. But thanks to the incredible Singapore government which has been active, iterative, and responsive during the #covidー19 pandemic. During this period, the Special Situation Fund for Start-ups (#SSFS) and an improved Start-up SG Founder program were both developed as highly focused programs for tech start-ups. Launched on June 5, 2020, the SSFS operated as a finance plan to aid high-growth start-ups in continuing to operate throughout the pandemic. Due to such inimitable efforts by the government, cohesive stakeholders and incredible talents, the innovations in this space are raising. Let-Lab SG, as the new entrant to Singapore, that too post covid-19, is riding on this wave [Fig. 1]. We are also working with our ecosystem partners to create #ventures around this space, to add more startups to the map.?

Categorising innovations?

Some key observations we picked up while drafting the map were that there are many more technology enablers than start-ups directly involved in semiconductor manufacturing. Many of the start-ups we highlighted in the map possess technologies that allow R&D teams design and propose entirely new techniques and products, advancing real innovation in the semiconductor industry.??

We have categorised the startups into i) Robotics/Automation, ii) Sensors/Optics, iii) Artificial Intelligence (AI) ( note: though AI can power every other category, for the sake of this map, we mean startups that exclusively use AI as a technology ), iv) Internet of Things (IoT), v) Architecture vi) Digitalisation, vii) Video analytics, viii) Materials, ix) Energy [ Fig.2].??

Among the categories, we noticed that most of them belonged to the software rather than hardware to improve productivity and automate tasks that were previously manual ( either physical or human being doing tasks on a computer that can be automated)? or required a human brain for decision making. However the Robotics/Automation sector by itself is large. Singapore’s specialty in robotics is aligned with its goal to become a knowledge-based, innovative, smart nation. The map also shows the early adoption of AI innovation, Singapore has established itself as an AI hub, and the second most automated country in the world. Robotic automation is sought among semiconductor manufacturers as it helps speed up production processes and allows them to attain a higher level of quality assurance. It is notable that some of the robotic companies are soft-ware based. For instance, Let-Lab is proud of its home-grown startup- RobotAI, a patented technology that enables human-like visual cortex for 3D vision and? hand-eye coordination tasks for robots. RobotAI did a joint venture with Singaporean company Akrabis for developing new solutions.??

In the fields of AI, video analytics and digitalisation, Let-Lab SG team is currently working on? proof-of-concepts (#POCs) with two highlighted start-ups, Ailytics and Aleph Technologies respectively. Ailytics is building multiple POCs with us on safety and productivity monitoring, while Aleph technologies is using their digital twin and AI expertise to improve productivity using predictions.????

We also support novel materials for robotics through startups like Enlipsium , who provide material solutions for production and services in semiconductor industry.??

Funding and supporting ecosystem??

The mapping of the start-up ecosystem would be incomplete without crucial support from the forces that drive the innovations forward- Singapore’s academic and industrial partners. Today, an entrepreneur or innovator in Singapore, working in the industry 4.0 for semiconductor industry has options for initial support- from funds, mentoring and pilots. This map shows the supporting entities from tech transfer offices in academic and research institutes, venture building programmes and venture capital and corporate venture capital arms, multinational companies and SMEs. As we empower startups, we also work closely with tech transfer offices of universities like NUS Enterprise , NTUitive , industry venture building programmes like Singapore Deep-Tech Alliance (SDTA) ,? Lyve Labs - Seagate Innovation Centers , corporate venture capital arms? like Micron Ventures , Applied Ventures , family offices like Goldbell Group , other venture capital arms, angels, innovators etc., to build a sustainable, semiconductor industry 4.0 ecosystem in Singapore.?Our list is not limited to the startups and partners highlighted here.

It was important for us to map the funding status of the startups in the field, to understand their acceleration. We analyzed information on the start-ups through public domains such as LinkedIn and Crunchbase . While doing so, we noted down the type of funding and amount each of them have raised to date, which came to a grand total of over $72 million. Understandably, a lot of start-ups were missing publicly available funding information. However it was interesting to note that nearly 63% of the start-ups were in the #seedfunding stage [Fig. 3]. While a lot of start-ups have not publicly declared their funding status, it is safe to assume that with the extensive support in Singapore’s innovation ecosystem, new ideas are harboured at institutions who genuinely believe in the respective causes. This analysis also gives an outlook that most of the startups in the field are in early stage and need an accelerator like Let-Lab, to propel their growth and scale their business.?

?About Let-Lab and UCT?

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc, (UCT),is a 2 billion dollar original equipment manufacturing (#OEM) company listed on Nasdaq . Head quartered in the #usa, UCT has its Asian headquarters at Singapore. Let-Lab was founded in Israel in 2018, by Mr. Agmon David Porat . Riding on our success in Israel, Let-Lab SG was launched in June 2022 and is headed by Dr. Dr. Viveka Kalidasan, PhD .? As the innovation arm of UCT, Let-Lab aims to accelerate the sustainable semiconductor industry 4.0 innovations into scalable ventures.?

Let-Lab’s year-long, unique start-up incubation programme gives access to:?

1. UCT’s space as a testing ground for the start-ups and innovators to build their proof-of-concept and deploy their pilots,?
2. domain experts,?
3. potential customers,?
4. office space,?
5. diverse stakeholders, ecosystem partners??

?in a nutshell, all resources needed to develop a deep tech venture.?

Let-Lab SG is consistently seeking to expand its presence in the ecosystem, if you wish to be a part of the change, feel free to reach out to our experienced team by writing to Dr. Viveka Kalidasan, PhD or Agmon David Porat .?

If you are a part of this nurturing ecosystem, but on in the map yet, feel free to add yourself to list, while you are being mindful of the stakeholders in the list. We look forward to having you in our next version of the map.??

Our sincere gratitude to Lee Jung tou , Ayush Grover , Ahana Sarkar , Indira Datta and Clevon Wong for their help in making this map and article possible.