Singapore startup founders need time to turn US$1.8b equity to real gains

The recent listing of Singapore's Nanofilm turned the founder, a former academic, and his wife into billionaires overnight - they may not be the last, going by numbers compiled by The Business Times. According to data compiled using intelligence platform VentureCap Insights and regulatory filings, the founders of 20 prominent Singapore startups already hold equity worth about US$1.77 billion, even though they are some distance from their exits. At the top of the list - which is based on the firms' last-round valuations - is JustCo, which was most recently valued at over US$1 billion, going by VentureCap (see table). The startup's three co-founders are estimated to collectively own a 23.8 per cent stake in the firm, held directly and via a vehicle called Sing Long Investments. Based on JustCo's latest valuation, that stake would be worth about US$238.2 million.

Grab is excluded from the sample as data is not available for its offshore holding company. Read more here