Country Opportunity Score

The 1-to-5 scoring across thirteen dimensions reflects the Sigma Mentoring Six-Markets Framework v1.1, populated from current desk research as of May 2026. Sources include government statistical agencies in each market (Statistics Bureau of Japan, HKMA, SingStat, NDRC, MDEC, GSO Vietnam), ecosystem indices (Startup Genome 2025, StartupBlink 2025), funding databases (Crunchbase, Tracxn, DealStreetAsia), and current regulatory and policy materials.

v1.1 note: the Cost of operations dimension was added in May 2026 as the thirteenth dimension. v1.0 covered twelve dimensions of structural fundamentals; founder feedback indicated that runway efficiency — senior compensation, real estate, total cost of operating the venture — was the consequential dimension most often missing from cross-market structural comparisons. The framework now captures it explicitly.

The dimensions and scoring anchors are stable across editions; the scores themselves are refreshed annually. The framework was originally designed for Module 7 of Sigma’s Founders of Asia programme and is also the analytical backbone for the annual State of Founders in Asia report.

This is a working draft. The annual editions will integrate primary research — sixty founder interviews and thirty investor interviews per year — that will refine the scoring with primary signal not visible in the secondary data alone.

For each country, the weighted score is the sum of (dimension score × your weight for that dimension), divided by the sum of all your weights. This gives a value between 1 and 5, which is normalised to a 0–100 scale by the formula (weighted − 1) ÷ 4 × 100.

Equal weighting produces the simple average across all thirteen dimensions. Setting any dimension weight to 0 removes it entirely from the calculation. The bar widths in the ranking are proportional to the normalised score.

The total scores in the master grid (visible in the Six-Markets Framework full document) are presented as simple sums for orientation, but the calculator’s weighted approach is the more useful tool for an actual founder decision because it lets you reflect your venture’s specific priorities.

The framework captures conditions in the markets. It cannot capture three things that matter at least as much for any specific founder:

Founder fit. Two founders with identical ventures will perform very differently in the same market depending on cultural fit, network depth, and language access. The framework can suggest where structural conditions are favourable; it cannot predict whether you specifically will thrive there.

Trajectory. The scores are a snapshot of May 2026. Several markets — Vietnam most clearly, but also China, Japan, and Malaysia in different ways — are in rapid transition. A market that scores 3 today may score 4 in three years, or vice versa.

Timing. A market that scores well today may be over-served by competing ventures three years from now. The framework captures conditions but not market-entry timing, which is often the more consequential question.

For the consequential decisions — where to incorporate, where to raise, where to operate, where to exit — primary diligence with people building in the market is the irreplaceable layer.

Most founders treat “where to incorporate,” “where to raise,” “where to operate,” and “where to exit” as a single decision. Treating them as separable is one of the highest-leverage moves in cross-border venture-building.

Incorporation typically rewards Hong Kong or Singapore for ventures pursuing international capital. Raising follows the best-fit lead investors, who may be in a different jurisdiction. Operating teams can be located wherever the work is done best and cheapest, subject to data and leadership constraints — which often means Vietnam, Malaysia, or even within China for engineering, even when the holding company is elsewhere. Exit venue should be considered seriously by Series A; deferring it until Series B routinely creates structural constraints that earlier-decision counterparts do not face.

The calculator above is most useful for the incorporation and operations questions. The Sigma Founders of Asia programme works through all four decisions in operational depth.