From the glass-walled conference room overlooking a minimalist two-story office just across the street from Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus Rift, the space would fit any number of well-heeled startups in San Francisco.
The difference with this industrial-style loft in the trendy SoMa district is that the money that helped pay for the work space (obligatory neon accents and all) didn't come from a nearby venture capital firm. It came from the government of the world's third-richest country.
"To make the brand more relevant, we had to move to the city," said Victor Tan, who runs Block 71, the Bay Area outpost for the investment arm of Singapore's national technology agency. "That's why we pay the ridiculous rents."
Tan helmed a startup in China before working for the government of the Southeast Asian city-state home to 5.5 million people. He has been Singapore's man on the ground for three years now, moving his operation up to San Francisco from nearby Silicon Valley last year.
His current task: Land Singapore on the map for global tech talent as officials back home ramp up a lofty, tech-centric development plan called "Smart Nation." Full story...
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The difference with this industrial-style loft in the trendy SoMa district is that the money that helped pay for the work space (obligatory neon accents and all) didn't come from a nearby venture capital firm. It came from the government of the world's third-richest country.
"To make the brand more relevant, we had to move to the city," said Victor Tan, who runs Block 71, the Bay Area outpost for the investment arm of Singapore's national technology agency. "That's why we pay the ridiculous rents."
Tan helmed a startup in China before working for the government of the Southeast Asian city-state home to 5.5 million people. He has been Singapore's man on the ground for three years now, moving his operation up to San Francisco from nearby Silicon Valley last year.
His current task: Land Singapore on the map for global tech talent as officials back home ramp up a lofty, tech-centric development plan called "Smart Nation." Full story...
Related posts:
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- Smart Nation: Singapore's vision to connect 'everyone to everything...
- Is someone watching you online? The security risks of the Internet of Things...
- Is India's 100 smart cities project a recipe for social apartheid?
- Facebook's future plans for data collection beyond all imagination...
- London's bins are tracking your smartphone...
- Welcome to 'the Internet of Things'
- Facebook will now track users' finances in addition to social contacts...
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