The Asia Growth Desk, Issue 02: The question every room asked

Hello,

Singapore is famous for its event season, from the end of summer to Christmas, and it has been a busy couple of months for us too. We have been lucky to be invited into a number of rooms.

One was a trade mission of Scottish companies, brought to the British High Commission in Singapore by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Scottish Development International. Afterwards we had the chance to talk to almost everyone in the room, and what came through was a genuine interest in GTM engineering. A year ago, few people in Singapore used the term at all.

That has been the pattern all season, so it is where this issue starts.

01 · ON SELLING IN ASIA

The question every room asked

At the High Commission, our message was why people still matter in Asia. The data tells you who to meet. The business still comes from the meeting.

At SWITCH, The Workshop went physical for the second time, with all nine partner firms appointed by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) in one place. We were given a seat on a panel about scaling across Southeast Asia. Tenity then asked us to run a session for the fintech startups in its Singapore programme, most of them from Europe. We brought each company a slide of its own public signals.

Three more invitations come this month. This week GFTN has asked us to run a masterclass on practical steps to revenue in Asia for its startup programme. GFTN is the Global Finance & Technology Network, which co-organises the Singapore FinTech Festival. On 17 November, DBS has invited us to speak to a delegation of fintech companies about modern ways to build a sales pipeline, and the Singapore EDB grants that help pay for it.

The next morning, 18 November, we have a booth at the first BT South-east Asia Growth Forum, which The Business Times is running with Singapore EDB for companies planning to scale across Southeast Asia. Read The Business Times article

In every room the question has been the same. With data, signals and AI, how much of the groundwork for a new market can be done before anyone books a flight, and where do people still matter? Our answer is that a lot more can be done from a distance than three years ago. The signals show which companies are opening an office, hiring or preparing a tender. The meetings still decide it.

Do you run a cohort, an accelerator, a trade mission or an event? If you would like a session on modern go-to-market and how technology is changing it, email me at steve.dawson@asiamarketentry.com. It is what we talk about now. For each session we prepare signals on the companies in the room, so everyone leaves with something to act on.

See what The Workshop covers →

02 · INDUSTRIES

Fintech and payments: banks buy when something changes

The Singapore FinTech Festival is at Singapore EXPO from 18 to 20 November. For anyone selling to banks, the week matters less for the talks than for what gets announced around them.

A bank is most open to a conversation when something has just changed, such as a new licence or a new head of payments. Those changes are public, and they are the signals we track for clients. One is coming soon: MAS is finalising its rules for stablecoins, with a new licence for issuers. Every bank and payments firm in Singapore will then need a view on what to do next. That is when a well-timed introduction gets a reply.

See our fintech and payments page →

03 · THE TECHNOLOGY

This month's tool: Firmable, and where data runs thin

Last month we promised a tool whose data runs thin in Asia. In our experience most of them do: the large global providers were built for North America and Europe, and outside those markets their coverage of companies and people is patchy.

Firmable takes a different approach. It is a B2B data platform built market by market. It started with Australia and New Zealand and launched in Southeast Asia earlier this year. Our sister company, The GTM Studio, has been a Firmable partner since August. In the last few weeks it has also signed with Clay and Gong. Asia Market Entry works out the market and makes the introductions. When a client wants the system built, we advise and The GTM Studio builds.

Charles Tidswell, my co-founder at The GTM Studio, also hosts Clay Club Singapore. The next one is with HubSpot for Startups. If you are a startup based in Singapore, this one is for you. It is a hands-on afternoon on Wednesday 9 December at Stage One at ACE, with ACE and Firmable joining too. Look out on my LinkedIn for registration details.

Visit The GTM Studio's website →

04 · ALSO THIS MONTH

You might have noticed something different about our logo. It is in the header of this newsletter, and that is because we have refreshed it, hot on the heels of the new website. The mark has always held an A and an M, made of arrows, and the arrows mark entry. One of them is now green, for a green light. After eight years with the old logo it was time for a change: a new typeface, and a more vibrant use of colour.

Three AI companies have chosen Singapore since the last issue.

It is no surprise. Singapore is one of the biggest adopters of AI in the world. Stanford's 2026 AI Index found that 61 per cent of people in Singapore use generative AI, among the highest rates anywhere, and Anthropic ranks Singapore second of 121 countries for use of Claude relative to its population. Singapore is at the leading edge of this fast-moving space, and these companies are acting on that signal. Read the AI Index

• Anthropic, the company behind Claude, opened its Singapore office in October, its fifth in Asia Pacific. Read Anthropic's announcement
• Horizon3 uses AI to attack a company's systems the way a hacker would, so the gaps are found first. It chose Singapore for its ASEAN headquarters. Read the report
• Profound shows brands how they appear in answers from ChatGPT and Gemini. It made Singapore its Asia Pacific headquarters on 2 November. Read the announcement

Its own research shows why it came. In 1.8 million ChatGPT and Gemini conversations in Singapore, the share spent researching, comparing or buying grew 23 per cent between January and September. More buyers now ask an AI before they ask a salesperson. The first impression is often made before anyone visits your website.

The Workshop runs all year. The Workshop is our free one-hour session for B2B companies growing in Asia, supported by Singapore EDB. If a team you know is planning its next market, it is a good place to start. Book The Workshop

05 · THE DIARY

Dates worth putting in the diary

10 to 12 Nov: Safety & Security Asia. Sands Expo and Convention Centre

18 Nov, morning: BT South-east Asia Growth Forum, run by The Business Times and Singapore EDB for companies scaling across Southeast Asia. Hilton Singapore Orchard. By invitation: if you can get on the list, come and find us at our booth

18 to 20 Nov: Singapore FinTech Festival. Singapore EXPO

1 to 4 Dec: Asia TV Forum & Market, for media and entertainment. Marina Bay Sands

9 Dec, afternoon: Clay Club with HubSpot for Startups, for startups in Singapore. Stage One at ACE. Registration details on my LinkedIn

The next issue is in December. If anything here is worth picking up, email me at steve.dawson@asiamarketentry.com. It comes straight to me.

Steve

Steve Dawson, Founder, Asia Market Entry

First sent by email on 10 November 2026. Subscribe at asiamarketentry.com/newsletter.