I’ve built companies on three continents. I started in hardware in New York with Hammerhead. I built AI sales tools with Leadzen across global markets. Now I’m building Luminary Lane from Singapore.

If I could go back and start over, I’d start here. Not because it’s easy—it’s not. But because the fundamentals for builders have never been better aligned than they are in Asia right now.

This isn’t boosterism. I’ve lived the downsides: regulatory complexity, fragmented markets, relationship-based business cultures that slow things down. But having built in the US and Europe, I can tell you: the advantages here outweigh the challenges by a significant margin.

The future belongs to builders. And the builders are coming to Asia.

Why Now: The Convergence of Advantages

Timing matters in entrepreneurship. Great ideas at the wrong time fail. Mediocre ideas at the right time succeed. And right now, multiple macro trends are converging to create an unprecedented window for building in Asia.

1. The Infrastructure Is Finally Here

When I first visited Singapore in 2015, the startup infrastructure was promising but incomplete. Limited funding, shallow talent pools, nascent ecosystems.

Fast forward to 2026:

  • Venture capital: $50B+ deployed across ASEAN in 2025
  • Talent density: Singapore now has more engineers per capita than San Francisco
  • Support systems: Accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces rivaling anywhere globally
  • Government backing: Active programs in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand supporting startups

The scaffolding is built. Now it’s time to construct.

2. The Markets Are Ripe

ASEAN’s 700 million people represent:

  • The world’s fastest-growing middle class
  • Mobile-first digital adoption (80%+ smartphone penetration)
  • Underserved markets in fintech, healthcare, education, enterprise software
  • Young demographics (median age: 30.2 years)

But here’s what’s often missed: these aren’t just big markets—they’re leap-frog markets.

When we built features at Luminary Lane, we didn’t adapt desktop-first thinking to mobile. We built mobile-native from day one. Our customers never used desktop marketing tools—they started with us. No legacy habits to break.

This leap-frog effect is everywhere in Asia. Businesses that skipped landlines for mobile. Economies that skipped credit cards for QR payments. Consumers who skipped web for apps.

Building for leap-frog markets means building the future without the baggage of the past.

3. The Cost Structure Works

Let me be direct about the economics:

ExpenseSingaporeSan FranciscoRatio
Senior Engineer (annual)$80-120K$200-300K2.5x
Office Space (per sqft)$6-8$60-8010x
Living Costs (monthly)$3-4K$5-8K2x
HealthcareSubsidized$1-2K/mo10x+

And if you build distributed teams across ASEAN:

  • Philippines engineer: $25-40K annual
  • Vietnam engineer: $20-35K annual
  • Indonesia engineer: $20-30K annual

This isn’t about cheap labor—it’s about capital efficiency. The same $1M seed round buys you 2-3x more runway in Asia. That runway converts to more iterations, more experiments, more chances to find product-market fit.

At Lumi5 Labs, we see this daily. Our portfolio companies achieve milestones at 40-60% of the capital required by their Western counterparts.

4. The Regulatory Environment Is Builder-Friendly

This surprises people who think of Asia as bureaucratic. But Singapore especially has become remarkably founder-friendly:

  • Company formation: 1-2 days, fully digital
  • Banking: Smooth for tech companies (try opening a startup bank account in the US)
  • IP protection: Strong and enforced
  • Visa programs: EntrePass, Tech.Pass designed for founders
  • Regulatory sandboxes: MAS sandbox for fintech, IMDA sandbox for AI

Other ASEAN countries are following suit. Indonesia’s OSS (Online Single Submission) simplified business licensing. Vietnam’s new investment laws welcome foreign startups. Thailand’s SMART visa targets tech entrepreneurs.

The message from governments: we want builders here, and we’ll make it easy.

5. The Geopolitical Realignment Creates Opportunity

US-China decoupling has created a vacuum. Southeast Asia is increasingly positioned as neutral ground—a Switzerland for tech.

This means:

  • Diverse funding sources: US, European, Chinese, Japanese, and local capital all active
  • Headquarters optionality: Singapore as a neutral base for global companies
  • Supply chain diversification: Manufacturing and services shifting to ASEAN from China
  • Talent magnet: Engineers from both East and West choosing Singapore

Companies that might face scrutiny operating purely in the US or China find ASEAN to be welcoming ground. This is creating inbound opportunity that didn’t exist five years ago.

The Builder’s Perspective: What It’s Actually Like

Let me share what building in Asia actually feels like day-to-day:

The Good

Speed of execution: Decisions happen fast. Approvals that take months elsewhere take weeks here. Deals close over coffee.

Pragmatic customers: Asian businesses want solutions that work, not demos that impress. They’ll pilot quickly if you solve real problems.

Network density: Singapore is small. Everyone knows everyone. One warm intro leads to three more.

Regional scale: Win in one ASEAN country and you have a playbook for five more. Localization is work, but the patterns transfer.

Quality of life: Clean, safe, efficient cities. World-class healthcare. Easy travel across the region.

The Challenges

Relationship timelines: Business moves on trust, and trust takes time. Cold outreach is less effective than in Western markets.

Market fragmentation: Each country is different—languages, regulations, payment systems, consumer behaviors. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work.

Exit environment: IPO and M&A options are more limited than the US. This is improving but still a factor.

Talent competition: The same advantages that attract you attract everyone else. Top talent is contested.

Cultural learning curve: Understanding how business works here takes time. Humility accelerates the process.

Honestly, the challenges are manageable if you’re committed. The advantages compound over time.

The Lumi5 Labs Thesis: Why We’re All-In on Asia

At Lumi5 Labs, Victor and I have made a deliberate bet: we invest exclusively in companies building for and from Asia.

This isn’t geographic chauvinism. It’s investment thesis:

  1. Capital efficiency: Our capital goes 2-3x further here
  2. Market timing: ASEAN is in early innings of digital transformation
  3. Founder quality: We’re seeing world-class builders choosing Asia
  4. Differentiated position: Most global VCs still underweight the region
  5. Network effects: Our Singapore base gives us genuine edge in sourcing and supporting

Every week, I meet founders who moved from the Bay Area, London, or Shanghai to build here. They’re not refugees from harder markets—they’re opportunists who see what we see.

The builders are voting with their feet.

The Global-From-Asia Model: How It Works

The best companies we see aren’t building “Asian companies.” They’re building global companies from an Asian base.

The model:

  • Headquarters in Singapore (neutral, business-friendly, English-speaking)
  • Engineering distributed across ASEAN (cost-effective, high quality)
  • Markets initially regional, then global
  • Capital from everywhere

At Luminary Lane, we serve customers in 30+ countries. But our team is 80% ASEAN-based. Our costs are Asian, our markets are global.

This arbitrage—Asian costs, global revenue—is available to any builder willing to operate here. It requires some logistical complexity, but the economics are compelling.

Your Move: Should You Build in Asia?

Let me make this practical. You might be a good fit for building in Asia if:

  • You want 2-3x capital efficiency vs. Western markets
  • You’re building for mobile-first, digital-native users
  • You value quality of life alongside quality of work
  • You’re patient enough to build relationships
  • You see the 700M+ ASEAN market as opportunity, not obstacle
  • You’re excited by leap-frog markets unencumbered by legacy

You might NOT be a good fit if:

  • You need immediate US market presence for your product
  • Your product requires deep US regulatory expertise
  • You’re unwilling to invest time in understanding new cultures
  • You need the specific Bay Area network effects for your category
  • You want maximum exit optionality above all else

There’s no shame in either answer. Know yourself and choose accordingly.

The Call to Action: Come Build

If you’re reading this and feeling the pull, here’s my practical advice:

For Explorers:

  1. Visit Singapore for a week. Meet founders, attend events, feel the energy.
  2. Talk to builders who’ve made the move. Get the unfiltered story.
  3. Run the numbers on your specific business. Does the capital efficiency math work?

For the Committed:

  1. EntrePass or Tech.Pass applications are straightforward. Start now.
  2. Find co-working space (we like JTC LaunchPad and Bridge+) and start building.
  3. Build relationships before you need them. Coffee meetings compound.
  4. Connect with the investor ecosystem. Happy to introduce you.

For the Curious:

  1. Join online communities of Asia-based founders
  2. Follow the discourse—VC blogs, founder Twitter, regional tech media
  3. Test assumptions remotely before committing to a move

The Future Belongs to Builders

I titled this post “The Asia Advantage” but really it’s about a bigger truth: the future belongs to builders, and builders go where building is best.

Right now, for a remarkable confluence of reasons—infrastructure, markets, costs, policy, timing—building is exceptionally good in Asia.

This won’t last forever. Windows close. Arbitrages get competed away. The time to act is when the advantage is clear, not after it’s obvious.

I made my bet. Moved my family. Built my company. Invested my capital. Not because I’m certain—entrepreneurship is never certain—but because the expected value calculation pointed here.

The Asia Advantage is real. The question is whether you’ll capture it.

Come build. The future is being constructed here, and there’s room for more builders.

Find me on LinkedIn if you want to talk about building in Asia. Check out what we’re creating at Luminary Lane. And if you’re a builder who shares this conviction, Lumi5 Labs might be the right partner for your journey.

The builders are coming. Will you be one of them?

Raveen Beemsingh is a 2x exited founder (Hammerhead → SRAM, Leadzen) now building Luminary Lane and investing through Lumi5 Labs. He mentors startups at Techstars and is obsessed with making AI work in the real world. Based in Singapore, building for Asia and the world.

Keywords: startup Asia 2026, building in Singapore, ASEAN opportunity, Southeast Asia startups, tech entrepreneurship Asia, Singapore tech ecosystem, why Asia, startup ecosystem Singapore, ASEAN digital economy, founder Asia, capital efficiency startups, EntrePass Singapore, global from Asia, tech hub Singapore

Tags: #AsiaAdvantage #BuildInAsia #SingaporeStartups #ASEANTech #FounderLife #StartupEcosystem #Lumi5Labs #TechEntrepreneurship #SoutheastAsia #GlobalStartups #VentureCapitalAsia #BuildersEconomy