Singapore Startups Double Down on AI Tools as Subscription Spending Surges
Source: Singapore Business Review
Singapore startups are rapidly stacking multiple AI tools into their operations, with the number of companies running three or more AI platforms more than doubling year on year, according to fintech platform Aspire's latest Startup Signals report.
Singapore startups are rapidly stacking multiple AI tools into their operations, with the number of companies running three or more AI platforms more than doubling year on year, according to fintech platform Aspire's latest Startup Signals report.
Analysing transaction data from over 10,000 businesses across Asia, Aspire found that the average number of AI platforms used by Singapore startups rose to 1.87 in financial year 2025-2026, while overall AI adoption grew 42% year on year. Rather than relying on a single solution, startups are building "stacked" AI workflows that deploy different tools in parallel for different tasks.
OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude captured the largest share of AI spending among Singapore startups at 41% and 37% respectively. Notably, Claude recorded faster client and spending growth — its unique paying clients jumped to 1,537 in FY25-26, up 258% from two years earlier, while ChatGPT's paying base grew 31% to 2,377. Startups using Claude spent an average of US$1,598 per account annually, compared with US$1,144 for ChatGPT users. Cursor, the AI coding assistant, accounted for 15% of AI spend.
The report also revealed that software subscriptions were the only major spending category to grow — rising 18% year on year — with about a quarter of that growth attributed to AI-related tools. In contrast, digital advertising spend declined 14%, signalling that startups are prioritising AI tooling over traditional ad spend.
Why it matters for Singapore: The data paints a picture of a startup ecosystem that is aggressively experimenting with AI — not just adopting one tool but running multiple platforms in parallel. This multi-model approach has implications for how Singapore positions itself as a launch market for AI products, and suggests that local startups are moving faster than the global average in treating AI as core infrastructure rather than an experimental add-on. The strong showing for Claude also underscores Anthropic's growing footprint in Asia-Pacific.