Flying high with the diaspora

Singapore start-ups spread their wings in the highly competitive American market

- Bhagyashree Garekar

WASHINGTON - United States Highway 101, a 2,400km road running along the Pacific coast, is popular with locals and tourists who enjoy the glimpses it offers of charming beach towns and the state's famed surf culture.

But it gives some Singaporeans driving down the iconic highway in California an additional thrill - the sight of a corporate office.

"I often get texted by Singaporeans. They go: 'Hey, we saw your company on 101,"" said Dr Tan MinHan, the founder of Lucence, a Singapore start-up headquartered in Palo Alto.

It sprang into the limelight in 2023 when it became the first and only Asian healthcare company to have its cancer detection tests approved for use in the American national medical insurance programme.

The messages feel like vindication to Dr Tan, who is also the medical director of the firm that set up shop in Silicon Valley in 2020.

"This happened because we were able to develop great technology out of Singapore," he said, pointing out that there was more to celebrate than the fact that his firm had cracked a highly competitive market.

"This is not just about Singapore being a receiver; of multinational companies coming to Singapore and building manufacturing plants.

"This is very much about Singapore-invented technology globalising. Helping cancer patients everywhere, detecting cancer earlier, and achieving better survival," Dr. Tan told The Sunday Times in an interview from Beijing where he was travelling for business.

Lucence developed and commercialized its cancer diagnostic testing services in Singapore and Hong Kong before bringing them to the US in 2020.

Next, Dr Tan wants to offer blood tests that can detect as many as 50 cancers, from the 10 that the company can detect now.

Expansion is the name of the game when it comes to Singapore firms operating in the United States.