Why Deepshikha Kumar Anand Chose Singapore to Build SpeakIn for Asia
- ByStartupStory | October 9, 2026
For Deepshikha Kumar Anand, Singapore was never simply a place to register a company. It was a deliberate choice about where an Asian company should build from.
When Deepshikha decided to build SpeakIn across Asia, she could have chosen any major business hub in the region. Instead, she chose Singapore — not simply for its location, but for what the city represents in terms of governance, talent, infrastructure and credibility.
“Singapore is where I chose to build the headquarters of SpeakIn because of what it stands for. The governance is real. The talent is real. The credibility it gives you when you walk into a room in Seoul, Mumbai, or London and say ‘we’re headquartered in Singapore’ — that’s real. Singapore didn’t just give me an address. It gave me a credibility signal I could never have bought in any other city in Asia,” says Deepshikha.
For a company looking to build relationships across borders, that credibility can become an important part of the growth story.
From Singapore, SpeakIn has run multiple editions of the Asia Dialogues Forum, including a roundtable with a Singapore statutory board focused on inclusive workforce development. Through its youth-focused programmes, the company has also partnered with a national community organisation to bring presentation skills and industry-readiness workshops to Singapore’s youth, drawing on experts from sectors including banking, technology and telecommunications.
Over time, the Singapore base has become more than a corporate headquarters. It has become part of how SpeakIn builds relationships, develops partnerships and establishes its presence across the region.
Building for Asia, Not Just From Asia
There is a difference between choosing a location because it is convenient and choosing one because it aligns with the kind of company you want to build.
For Deepshikha, Singapore represented the latter.
“Singapore is one of those cities that haven’t, it took the long view on talent, governance, and infrastructure simultaneously. The companies leaving are optimising for cost. The companies staying are optimising for credibility. Those are two very different strategies, and Singapore has always attracted the second kind,” she says.
That philosophy has shaped SpeakIn’s regional journey.
Today, SpeakIn has built a network spanning more than 30 countries. Singapore remains the base from which the company has developed relationships across markets including
Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia, with Vietnam and the Philippines among the markets it is looking towards next.
For SpeakIn, building across Asia is not simply about entering one market after another. It is about creating a network through which expertise, relationships and opportunities can move across borders.
And that requires trust.
When the Headquarters Becomes Part of the Story
For many companies, a headquarters is simply an address.
For SpeakIn, Singapore became part of the company’s larger story.
The decision reflects a broader belief that an Asian company can build for the region while investing in long-term relationships, institutional credibility and the ecosystems around it.
That approach can be seen in SpeakIn’s work in Singapore, from the Asia Dialogues Forum to workforce-development conversations and youth-focused programmes.
It is also reflected in the company’s growing regional network.
For Deepshikha, Singapore is therefore more than the place where SpeakIn is headquartered. It is the foundation from which the company is attempting to build something that can travel across borders and markets.
The decision, ultimately, was not about finding the easiest place to build.
It was about choosing a place that could help SpeakIn build credibility, create meaningful relationships and prove that an Asian company could build for Asia while operating on a global stage.
Singapore gave SpeakIn the address.
What Deepshikha and her team build from it is the part that has to prove itself.
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