SINGAPORE – AI start-up founder Lenard Tan needed additional resources and guidance when he was thinking of expanding his business to the US this year.
His Singapore-based software company Ailytics, which was founded in 2021 and develops AI models to enhance existing security camera infrastructure, was already in more than 10 countries.
Tan had mostly relied on a clutch of founders and contacts to establish his company’s presence overseas, with most of its markets in Asia.
But expanding to the US, one of the largest markets in the world, was a whole different ball game. Tan needed people who understood the landscape well and could point him to the right contacts for business opportunities.
Fortunately, Tan could lean on members of the Endeavor global network of entrepreneurs.
Referrals from these founders opened many doors in a short span of time, which would not have been possible if he had tried to navigate the US landscape on his own, he said.
Tan likened Endeavor to Silicon Valley start-up accelerator Y Combinator, saying referrals from its members gave his US expansion plans credibility and made industry players there more willing to help.
Founders in the network also answered many of his questions about their experience growing their own companies.
“It felt more like an active network rather than a passive one. The willingness to help one another felt innate in the ecosystem,” Tan said. He added it was the first network he joined where he felt founders were truly authentic and honest with one another in a safe community.
Endeavor was co-founded in 1997 by American social entrepreneur Linda Rottenberg and American investor-philanthropist Peter Kellner.
The non-profit organisation aims to help high-growth start-ups based outside the US and China scale their businesses beyond their home countries and to establish thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in places where talent is abundant but access is not.
Endeavor’s fourth global hub was launched in Singapore on July 22. The other global hubs are in London, New York and Dubai.
Founders like Tan will be able to tap Endeavor’s network of over 3,000 entrepreneurs across more than 50 countries for mentorship, strategic introductions and growth opportunities to scale their businesses beyond Singapore.
Programmes and platforms focused on fundraising and investor access will provide members with tailored support as their companies grow, while industry-specific engagements will provide market insights and sectoral expertise.
Companies in the network generate over US$100 billion in annual revenue collectively and employ over 4 million people. Members include the leaders behind unicorn companies such as fintech and payments firm Revolut, AI text-to-speech software developer ElevenLabs, and Indonesian e-commerce company Bukalapak.
These successful entrepreneurs can also go on to serve as role models to founders, especially in places with few entrepreneurs or where oligopolistic families dominate, said Endeavor board chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr in an interview with The Straits Times.
A key differentiator of Endeavor compared to other entrepreneur networks is its focus on founders paying it forward. As they receive guidance from Endeavor’s network, they are also encouraged to mentor and invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs, creating what it terms a “multiplier effect”.
The network is highly exclusive due to its rigorous selection criteria. An international selection panel of business experts evaluates applicants, who are admitted only if they receive a unanimous vote. Only 1 to 2 per cent of those who apply to join the network are selected.
Before the Singapore global hub, Endeavor had a small presence here with a handful of entrepreneurs.
Singapore entrepreneurs who have already benefitted from the network include Peter De Caluwe, founder of cross-border payments company Thunes, who joined in 2021, and Shopback’s co-founder Henry Chan, who joined Endeavor in March 2026.
The ambition to scale is a pre-requisite for any company that wishes to join the network, said Bronfman Jr, who was chief executive of Warner Music Group from 2004 to 2011.
Rather than focusing on early-stage start-ups, the organisation prioritises companies with a proven product-market fit and that have reached an inflection point for significant scaling.
“We look at the quality of the entrepreneur and the business, as well as the timing of the ambition to scale. When we get involved, we want to be able to help that entrepreneur scale the company multiple times from there.”
Ailytics was one of eight companies selected for the global hub’s inaugural cohort of its Dare to Scale programme, which will begin in August. The other companies span a diverse range of sectors including fintech, agrifood and enterprise software.
Endeavor will also roll out other flagship programmes like Unicorn Builder, which helps high-growth startups scale into billion-dollar global companies through mentorship, networking and fundraising support.
Another is Endeavor Next, an invitation-based community meant to support serial entrepreneurs and repeat founders who are building their next global venture from Singapore.
Singapore was chosen for Endeavor’s fourth global hub as it is regarded as “the capital of South-east Asia”, and its pro-business policies attract entrepreneurs from all over the world to do business in the region, said Bronfman Jr.
He said the global network will be appealing to founders not just from Singapore but also South-east Asia looking to set up base in the Republic and expand further.
“We want to be able to introduce them to people, companies, markets and opportunities, and Singapore was the obvious place to set up this hub to serve our entrepreneurs and help them find whatever they are looking for in Asia.”
The hub, which does not have a physical space yet, was launched in partnership with the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore. The latter will play a role in recommending suitable start-ups to join the network, as it did with Ailytics.
Speaking at Endeavor’s launch event held at Jewel, outgoing Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan, who will be assuming a new post at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Endeavor and Singapore will also collaborate “in a really elegant way” to build a strong ecosystem for start-ups, he added.
Tiger Fang, chief executive of Indonesian logistics company Kargo Technologies, said Singapore was the natural choice for his business’s expansion because of its stable economy and political environment, and because many banks and multinational companies have their regional headquarters here.
Recently accepted into Endeavor’s network, Fang said it had already been very helpful in connecting him to the biggest vehicle leasing operators and logistics-focused funds to help expand his electric truck fleet in Singapore.
Enterprise Singapore’s executive director Sophia Ng told ST that the partnership with Endeavor took less than a year to formalise, and both the network and the government were aligned on their values and how they envisioned the start-up landscape to grow.
“The ability to help a start-up go overseas and tell them that you have their back along their journey – that is very powerful.”
