---
title: "Startup Recruiter Singapore: Hiring for APAC Expansion"
description: Expanding into APAC via Singapore? Funded.club hires your first regional team with remote recruiters on a fixed fee from $4,900 per hire, agreed upfront.
---
[Startup Hiring Insights & Guides | funded.club](https://funded.club/blog)
# [Startup Recruiter Singapore: Hiring for APAC Expansion](https://funded.club/blog/startup-recruiter-singapore)
Written by [Ray Gibson](https://funded.club/blog/author/ray-gibson) | Sep 29, 2026, 12:45:11 PM
*Updated September 2026*
A startup recruiter for Singapore should help you hire the people who will open up APAC for you, usually a regional leader and a small go-to-market team, and should know how to reach candidates who are already working for established companies in the region. Funded.club hires for Singapore with remote recruiters on a fixed fee per hire agreed upfront, so your cost stays predictable while you are still learning the market.
## Why startups hire in Singapore first
For many European and North American startups, Singapore is the first step into Asia Pacific. It is a common base for regional headquarters, English is the language of business, and it is a practical place from which to cover markets across Southeast Asia and beyond. That also means the local talent pool is used to working regionally, travelling and managing across very different markets.
The flip side is competition. Global companies with established regional teams recruit heavily in Singapore, and experienced commercial people there often have several options at once.
## Who to hire first for an APAC expansion
The order of hires matters more than usual when you are opening a new region far from headquarters:
- **A regional lead with a track record of starting from zero.** Someone who has launched a product in the region before, not only run an established territory. Ask for examples of first customers they won and how.
- **A first account executive or business development hire** who can work closely with the lead and prove the sales motion.
- **Customer success or solutions support** once you have customers to look after, so the regional lead is not doing everything.
Resist hiring a full team before the first two people have found traction. It is harder to unwind a team in a new region than at home. For more on senior commercial hires, see [how to hire a VP of Sales for a startup](https://funded.club/blog/hire-vp-sales-startup).
## Running a Singapore search from another time zone
If your founders sit in Europe or the Americas, the time difference shapes the process:
- Agree one or two fixed interview windows per week that work for both sides, and protect them.
- Keep the process short. Three or four stages is enough; long processes across time zones lose candidates.
- Plan for the regional lead to spend real time with the founding team early on, in person if you can, so they are trusted to make decisions locally.
- Sort out how you will employ people in Singapore, through your own entity or an employer of record, and take specialist advice on employment and immigration questions before making offers.
## What candidates in Singapore look for in a startup
Experienced people leaving an established regional team are taking a risk. They want to know the company is committed to the region, not testing it for a quarter. Be ready to explain your funding, your plan for APAC and how much autonomy the role will have. A clear, written 12 month plan for the region does a lot of work in these conversations.
## Where Funded.club fits for Singapore hiring
Funded.club has no office in Singapore. It hires for Singapore and the wider region with a fully remote team of recruiters, as part of its work across North America, Europe and APAC. Since 2019 it has helped 500+ startups from Seed to Series D.
Take an illustrative first hire at $95,000. A 20 to 25% contingency fee would be $19,000 to $23,750. Funded.club's fixed fee for a salary up to $110,000 is $7,500. The bands:
| Salary | Fixed fee per hire |
| --- | --- |
| Up to $70,000 | $4,900 |
| Up to $110,000 | $7,500 |
| Up to $150,000 | $11,500 |
| Above $150,000 | $15,900 to $21,900 |
Fees are agreed upfront. Part is an advance at the start of the search and the balance is due when the candidate accepts the offer. First-time customers can ask to defer the advance until they see their first candidates, and if you don't receive a shortlist of at least 3 qualified candidates within 30 days, you can claim the advance back in full. One dedicated recruiter runs the search end to end, with first screened candidates within 7 days. Full details are on the [pricing page](https://funded.club/pricing).
## Frequently asked questions
### Does Funded.club have a Singapore office?
No. Funded.club is fully remote with no office in Singapore. Its recruiters source and screen candidates for Singapore roles remotely.
### Can Funded.club hire a regional APAC lead based in Singapore?
Yes. Funded.club hires for leadership roles as well as sales, marketing, operations, customer success, product and engineering. A single dedicated recruiter would run the search from kick-off to accepted offer.
### How does the fixed fee compare with a percentage fee for a Singapore hire?
Funded.club's fixed fee averages 6 to 9% of salary, against the 20 to 25% typical of contingency recruiters. For a $95,000 hire, that is $7,500 instead of $19,000 to $23,750.
### Does Funded.club help with visas or employment setup in Singapore?
No. Funded.club runs the search and supports you through the offer. For employment setup and immigration questions, speak to a local specialist or an employer of record.
Worth a brief chat about your next hire? [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us).
[View full post](https://funded.club/blog/startup-recruiter-singapore)
```json
{
"@context" : "http://schema.org",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@type" : "Person",
"name" : "Ray Gibson"
},
"dateModified" : "2026-09-29T13:50:57.544Z",
"datePublished" : "2026-09-29T12:45:11Z",
"headline" : "Startup Recruiter Singapore: Hiring for APAC Expansion",
"image" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"height" : 630,
"url" : "https://7828179.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7828179/blog-featured-images/fc-startup-recruiter-singapore.png",
"width" : 1200
},
"mainEntityOfPage" : "https://funded.club/blog/startup-recruiter-singapore",
"publisher" : {
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"height" : 60,
"url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
"width" : 60
},
"name" : "A home for our news, articles and case studies"
}
}
```