An Indian founder flying to Singapore to pitch funds or negotiate a term sheet needs one thing for that trip, and it is the ordinary Singapore visit visa applied for as a business visit. It costs a few thousand rupees, and MOM explicitly lets short-term visitors attend meetings with business partners without a work pass. The EntrePass is a different animal. It is a work pass for running a Singapore company from Singapore, and it is strongest when you file it after the money or the accelerator letter exists.
So the sequence I push almost every founder toward is simple. Raise on visit visas. Incorporate once a lead investor wants a Singapore entity. File the EntrePass when the file can actually meet MOM's criteria. Move after the in-principle approval arrives.
The part founders underestimate is the visit itself. "I'm just meeting investors" is a true sentence that sounds identical to the sentence a person says when they are quietly running a company from a co-working desk on Cecil Street. The checkpoint officer decides your length of stay at the counter. A clean, boring paper trail is what separates you from the second person.
Which founders this covers, and which it doesn't
This is written for Indian passport holders. Singapore requires a visa for Indian ordinary passports, per the ICA visa requirements page for India. You are the founder of an Indian company (or about to be the founder of a Singapore one), you are travelling for fundraising, partnership or accelerator meetings, and your salary is paid in India or not paid at all.
If you already hold a Singapore pass, or your investor has made relocation a closing condition, skip to the EntrePass timing section.
One more group I'd flag. If you hold a valid US or UK visa, you may be tempted to use the 96-hour Visa-Free Transit Facility described on the Singapore High Commission's visa page for a quick stopover full of meetings. Don't. It is a transit facility.
What a Singapore business visit actually lets you do
MOM's list of work pass exempt activities (last updated 29 April 2026) says visitors need no notification to attend company meetings, corporate retreats or meetings with business partners, and to attend seminars, conferences or exhibitions as a participant or trade visitor. A partner meeting at a fund, or a term sheet negotiation, falls squarely inside the first item.
The condition attached is the one that matters. These activities should not involve a contract of service or a contract for service with an employer in Singapore. You can talk to a Singapore fund all week. You cannot be on a Singapore payroll while doing it.
Pitching on stage is where founders slip. If you are a speaker or presenter at a demo day, conference or talk, that is "organising or conducting" the event in MOM's language, and it sits in the notifiable category. You submit an e-notification after you arrive and receive your Short-Term Visit Pass, and before the activity starts. MOM's notification page says plainly that carrying out these activities without notifying first is an offence. Notifiable activities are capped at a total of 90 days in a calendar year across all visits (as of October 2026).
What is never covered on a visit is the work itself. Hiring a Singapore team, or running daily operations from a local desk. Those need a work pass, and for a founder that pass is usually the EntrePass.
The visa application, and the two forms that matter
Indian applicants go through an Authorised Visa Agent appointed by the Singapore mission, not directly. The High Commission in New Delhi lists the documents as a signed Form 14A, a passport valid for six months from entry and recent photographs, with Form V39A (the Letter of Introduction) requested case by case. As of October 2026 the High Commission quotes a non-refundable processing fee of INR 2,100, plus an agent service fee of INR 1,300, and processing of three to five working days. ICA's own page gives the fee as S$30.
Form 14A is where your story gets fixed in writing. Purpose of visit and local contact both go on it. ICA says it assesses the application on what you declare there and may ask for the form again later. Write the purpose exactly as it is. "Business meetings with investors and prospective partners" beats "tourism" with a laptop full of decks.
The V39A is the one founders try to avoid, because it needs a local contact. The New Delhi page says that for business visits the local contact must be a Singapore citizen or PR aged 21 or over, acting for a Singapore-registered business entity. A fund's Singapore entity or your accelerator will usually qualify. If one of them will sign, I would rather have it in the file than not, even when it hasn't been asked for.
And the visa is only a permission to seek entry. Length of stay is set by ICA officers at the checkpoint, who also look at funds and an onward or return ticket.
Why "just visiting investors" needs a paper trail
Founders who raise in Singapore rarely make one trip. They make four or five in two quarters, each longer than the last, often working Indian hours from a hotel room in between meetings. Nothing illegal there. But by the fourth entry in a short window, the pattern on the officer's screen looks like someone living in Singapore on visit passes.
A paper trail answers the question before it is asked. This is what I want in a founder's folder for every trip.
- A dated meeting calendar, with fund names and the person you are meeting at each.
- Written invitations or calendar confirmations from the funds or the accelerator, ideally from their Singapore entity.
- Proof that your business and your income sit in India, such as MCA company master data, your appointment as director, the latest ITR, a letter on your Indian company's letterhead stating the purpose and that it is funding the trip.
- A confirmed return ticket and the hotel booking, matching the dates on Form 14A.
There is a second reason, and it is the one that bites later. If you intend to apply for an EntrePass, your travel history comes with you. An assessor who sees a company that was visibly being run from Singapore for months before any pass existed is looking at a credibility problem at best. Keep each trip honest, keep it short, and keep the story the same on every form.
EntrePass timing: why I'd file after the round, not during it
MOM's EntrePass eligibility page (last updated 14 August 2026) sets two base conditions. You have started or intend to start a private limited company registered with ACRA in which you hold at least 30%, and the company is venture-backed or owns innovative technologies. On top of that you need at least one of these:
- At least S$100,000 raised in a single funding round from investors, for a past or current business.
- Support from a government-recognised or internationally renowned incubator or accelerator.
- Having founded and sold a venture-backed or tech business under your management.
- Registered IP that gives a significant competitive advantage.
- An ongoing research collaboration with a Singapore university or research institution.
Read as a founder mid-raise, the sequencing argument writes itself. If your Singapore round is still a term sheet, the funding criterion is not yet met for this business. A past round of S$100,000 or more in an earlier company also counts, which surprises people. If you have neither, an accelerator acceptance from a recognised programme may be the faster route than waiting for money to land.
Watch the company's age too. MOM assesses you under renewal criteria if the registered company is more than 12 months old on the date of application. Incorporate a holdco early "to be ready", sit on it for a year, and you may face spending and hiring tests a fresh company never sees.
| Singapore visit visa (business) | EntrePass | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Meetings, negotiation, attending events | Operating your Singapore company from Singapore |
| How you apply | Form 14A through an Authorised Visa Agent in India | Online with MOM, from outside Singapore |
| Government fees (as of October 2026) | INR 2,100 plus INR 1,300 agent fee | S$105 application, S$225 issuance |
| Typical processing (as of October 2026) | 3 to 5 working days | Usually within 6 weeks |
| What it does not allow | Working, operating, being paid by a Singapore entity | Running an excluded business type, or skipping renewal criteria |
On mechanics, MOM's application page says you apply from outside Singapore and processing usually takes up to six weeks, sometimes longer. Approval comes as an in-principle approval letter that doubles as a single-entry visa, valid for six months. A Short-Term Visit Pass cannot be extended to wait for the decision. So do not fly in on a visit visa expecting to sit in Singapore until the EntrePass clears.
The first pass runs for up to a year, per MOM's validity FAQ. From the renewal page onward, the test turns to total business spending in Singapore and local jobs created, and the bar rises with each cycle. Budget for that before you move, because an EntrePass that cannot be renewed is a one-year relocation.
The Indian side of a Singapore round
This is outside visa law, but it decides your calendar. If the lead investor wants a Singapore holding company above your Indian entity, you as an Indian resident putting money or shares into a foreign company fall under India's overseas investment rules under FEMA. It runs through your bank and CA, and can take longer than the visa. Start it the day the term sheet mentions a Singapore holdco.
How we would build this file
For a founder heading to Singapore to raise, our work is the invitation and itinerary pack. We start with your meeting calendar and work backwards. Which funds have Singapore entities that will put a meeting in writing, and which local contact will sign a V39A if the mission asks for it. Then Form 14A, worded to match the calendar exactly, with dates that leave a little slack and a return ticket that sits inside the visa's logic.
If the trip includes a demo day where you present, we flag the MOM notification step and prepare the details you will need on arrival. If you are on your third or fourth trip in a short window, we write a one-page cover letter explaining the round, its stage and why the visits cluster.
When the round closes or the accelerator letter arrives, we move to the EntrePass. We check which criterion your file meets on paper, the age of the Singapore company, your shareholding after dilution (30% is a floor, and a big round can push a co-founder below it), and whether your travel history tells a consistent story. Sometimes our answer is to wait a quarter. We say that plainly when it is the right call.
When not to do this alone
Get help if you have had a Singapore visa refused or been refused entry before, because every later Form 14A has to be consistent with that history. Get help if your cap table is about to drop you near the 30% line, or if the Singapore company was incorporated close to a year ago and the EntrePass is not yet filed. The 12-month mark changes which criteria apply to you, and it does not move.
And get help if an investor has written relocation into the closing conditions. At that point the visa timeline is a deal term. A six-week MOM decision plus a six-month IPA entry window has to fit inside the closing date, and that is a sequencing problem worth solving on day one. Founders weighing Singapore against the UK should read our piece on the UK Innovator Founder and Global Talent routes before committing to either.
What founders ask us about raising in Singapore
Can I sign the term sheet or shareholders' agreement while in Singapore on a visit visa?
Yes. Signing a deal document is part of a meeting with business partners, which MOM lists as exempt with no notification. The line is crossed when you start operating the Singapore company, for example by hiring staff or invoicing Singapore customers from a local office, before you hold a pass.
Can I apply for the EntrePass while I'm in Singapore on a visit pass?
MOM's process expects you to apply from outside Singapore, and a Short-Term Visit Pass cannot be extended while the application is pending. File from India, wait for the in-principle approval, then enter on that letter within its six-month window.
Do I need S$100,000 raised before I can get an EntrePass?
No. A single round of at least S$100,000 is one of five criteria, and you need only one. Support from a recognised accelerator, a previous exit, registered IP or a research collaboration with a Singapore institution can each qualify. You still need at least 30% of a venture-backed or tech-owning Singapore private limited company.