National University of Singapore Deputy President Chen Tsuhan, center, and Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, right, unveil the new Block71 location while center director Angeline Tan announces the action.
Alyse DiNapoli/Daily Journal
A Singapore-based startup community has officially opened its doors in downtown San Mateo, ushering international technology talent into the city and building on the amiable spirit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference held in San Francisco this week.
Block71 originated in Singapore as a way to provide startups with mentorship and networking opportunities, with startup founders and students venturing to the organization’s U.S. location as they seek to expand their North American markets.
The opening event Thursday, Nov. 16, marked a new beginning for Block71’s Bay Area location, previously housed in San Francisco, and included speeches by Gan Kim Yong, Singapore’s minister of Trade and Industry, as well as San Mateo Mayor Amourence Lee.
“The U.S. enterprise is an important partner in Singapore’s startup ecosystem, supporting our startup programs as well as fostering young entrepreneurship. I’m very glad that initiatives such as Block71 have now helped mature and grow our deep tech startups,” Yong said.
Sandwiched between Silicon Valley and San Francisco, San Mateo doesn’t always have the notoriety of other Bay Area cities when it comes to their startup ecosystem, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a long history of housing innovative technology companies. Block71’s new building location was previously home to cloud computing firm Snowflake in its early days, Lee said in her speech.
And as the city expands its selection of restaurants, bars and events, it provides a level of comfort and attractiveness that differs from downtown San Francisco, Mackenzie Jakoubek, executive director of the Downtown San Mateo Association, said.
“[Block71] is connecting communities through business and funding, just like downtown San Mateo is connecting communities all over, from food to events,” she said. “They are just embodying this idea of bringing cultures and people and communities together.”
The central location for life science-related startups also makes San Mateo particularly attractive, as Genentech, Gilead, Abbvie and a host of other biotechnology firms surround the area.
But while the firm now has a thriving community, the journey to build such a culture in Singapore was not without its challenges.
“When we created this program, there was not much of a startup environment. The issue in Singapore was that it’s a country that is wealthy … but people want safe jobs,” said Himawan Gunadhi, an instructor with the National University of Singapore, which partners with Block71. “There was no risk-taking culture, and also there was the embarrassment if you fail and of course not having any income, so there were stigmas … we had to teach them how to handle failure.”
Now, startup founders such as San Mateo resident James White, finds the space an important way to grow his company Carbon Critical, which reprocesses waste into usable minerals.
“It has a great community. There are a lot of VCs and government ministers around. It’s a great environment for feedback,” he said. “It’s impossible to meet all these different people on your own. That’s really the valuable piece is community.”
Block71 has supported over 1,200 startups which have raised a combined $9.8 billion, according to the company. The firm also welcomes international startups, including those in China, Indonesia and the United States, to its Singapore headquarters.
