INVESTORS in Singapore have had a tendency to view start-ups with a very cynical eye and keep their wallets firmly closed when it comes to investing. Just ask Dr Lou Choon-Leong.

It was the reluctance of local investors to put money into Dr Lou's business venture eight years ago that led him to take his idea to Taiwan - and make a killing.

While he is seen as a go-getter that Singapore allowed to let slip, Dr Lou is now back in the Republic getting more of his projects off the ground and encouraging Singaporeans to be a bit more adventurous when it comes to start-ups.

These days, go-getters like Dr Lou can find backing through Spring Singapore's Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme (TECS), which helps technical enterprises fund research and development (R&D) projects.

That would have been helpful when Dr Lou tried to get his company, STAr Technologies, up and running. The firm tests semiconductor chips, and designs and produces the testing equipment.

However, the Singapore investors he approached eight years ago had many reservations even though they welcomed his idea.

'They started discounting for whether the venture would be successful, the risks, returns on investment and returns on equity,' he said yesterday.

'There was a lot of difficulty in raising capital in Singapore; investors would pay less per share here than in Taiwan.'

Dr Lou opted for Taiwan, partly because its market for semiconductors was four times larger than Singapore's, but more importantly, because it had a more accommodating business culture then, which was more open to new ideas.

Dr Lou also noted the tendency among Singapore clients to require a finished product before agreeing to a deal. He said the Taiwanese would give the nod to just a preliminary proposal for a piece of equipment.

His company received three grants from the Taiwanese government in the first three or four years of its launch, helping him build a firm that raked in $30 million last year.

He returned to Singapore in 2001 to set up a subsidiary, and plans to pump in 'several million dollars' to expand manufacturing and R&D projects here, as well as carry out a joint venture with a United States partner.

Dr Lou now finds Singapore a more conducive place for entrepreneurs. He said the situation is much rosier and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would find it far easier now to secure funding than was the case eight years ago.

He also pointed to the strong support from the Government, something that gave Singapore SMEs a major advantage over their Taiwanese counterparts.

He will be tapping that bank of support himself and working with Spring Singapore and the Economic Development Board to help fund projects here, including a manufacturing plant to turn out chip-testing gear.

'If TECS had been available then, I would have definitely devoted more resources and projects to Singapore,' said Dr Lou.

'This is, after all, where I am from and, of course, I would love to expand my business here.'