TL;DR Brunei is a small, well-off country of under half a million people, almost all online and mostly living in towns. Oil and gas make up about three-quarters of goods exports. The ideas that fit sell services to the energy sector, support clinics and employers, help small firms work safely online, or deal with heat, rain and life on the water.

The market in numbers

  • Population: about 466,000 in 2025[1].
  • GDP per capita: about US$32,200 in 2025[2].
  • Internet and mobile: about 96% of people used the internet in 2024[3], with about 118 mobile subscriptions per 100 people[4].
  • Where people live: about 75% lived in towns and cities in 2025[5], and only about 1% of jobs were in farming[6].
  • Exports: fuels were about 75% of merchandise exports in 2025[7].
  • Currency: the Brunei dollar (BND), issued by the central bank[8].

What founders here actually have to work with

Brunei flips the usual small-market problem. People here have money, with GDP per head above US$32,000[2], and nearly everyone is online[3], but there are fewer than half a million of them[1]. So you can charge a fair price, you just can't count on volume.

The energy sector is the anchor. Fuels are about three-quarters of goods exports[7], and the companies behind them buy inspection, safety training and maintenance from outside firms. If you can get onto one operator's supplier list then you've got a serious business, though the paperwork to get there takes a while.

Farming is a tiny share of jobs[6], which tells you most people work in offices, services and the public sector. That makes employer-paid health programmes and small business software more realistic here than in its neighbours. I'd also think about Brunei as a testing ground, a place to prove a service before taking it to larger markets nearby.

Ideas that fit Brunei

Each idea was researched for India. The rupee costs, UPI and Indian licences won't carry over, so read every page as a brief to rebuild for Brunei.

Oil, gas and the supply chain

  • Furnacewing: Caged-drone surveys inside boilers, stacks and tanks during shutdowns. Refining and processing sites are the buyers, through their maintenance contractors.
  • Intakeview: Scheduled ROV checks of seawater intake and outfall pipes at coastal plants. A short coastline with heavy industry on it makes the customer list easy to write.
  • Hotworksim: VR hot-work safety training and skill checks for contract welders. Pitch it as faster onboarding for contractor crews.
  • Ventsure: Ground crews that confirm satellite-spotted methane leaks and plan the fix. Swap landfills for oil and gas sites.

Health and employers

  • Sugarturn: Employer-paid follow-up for staff whose health check shows prediabetes. Large employers are the natural buyer. It supports lifestyle change and does not diagnose.
  • Pentally: A clip-on cap that logs every insulin pen dose for the diabetes clinic. Device approval comes first [Requires validation].
  • Kidneydip: Phone-read urine tests and a nurse team for kidney checks in people with diabetes. It is screening, not diagnosis, so referral routes to a doctor matter.
  • Pulsekeep: Nurse phone follow-up for heart-failure patients in the 90 days after discharge. Sell it to the hospital, which is where the readmission cost lands.

Small firms and cyber safety

  • Deskmoat: A managed security baseline that gets small firms through their buyers' cyber checks. Energy-sector suppliers face these checks first.
  • Bossproof: Stops payment requests that only pretend to come from the boss. Small, close-knit offices are an easy target for this scam.
  • Payeelock: Checks every new or changed vendor bank account before a firm pays it. A cheap product to pilot with a few accounting firms.

Heat, rain and the water

  • Setpointly: Remote control and fault alerts for split ACs across branches and shops. Air conditioning runs most of the year, so the savings add up.
  • Waterdepth: Water-depth sensors that warn buildings before basements and gates flood. Check local flood records before you pick your first area [Requires validation].
  • Jettycharge: Shared shore charging and rented battery kits for small boats at jetties. The water taxis that serve the water villages are the first test [Requires validation].
  • Eraframe: History films made for tourism boards and museums. A small heritage sector means one good client could carry you for a year.

Rules to check before you start

Company and business registration runs through the One Common Portal[9]. Tax sits with the Revenue Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy[10]. Brunei Darussalam Central Bank issues the currency and regulates banks and other financial firms, so payments and lending ideas start there[8]. Health and medical device ideas will need the health ministry's approval [Requires validation].

This is a starting list, not legal advice. Check with a local lawyer or the agency itself.

Questions founders ask

Services like Payeelock or Bossproof need software and a few clients, not a big budget. With internet use at about 96%[3], you can test demand online in a few weeks.

Do foreigners need a local partner to start a company in Brunei?

I didn't find a source I'd rely on, so check the One Common Portal[9] and ask a local lawyer.

Is Brunei too small for a startup?

For a mass consumer app, probably. For a service that sells to energy firms, hospitals or employers, the buyers have budgets and the market is small enough to meet them in person.

Talk to Yash

If you want to get onto an energy operator's supplier list or sign a first employer for a health programme, I can help you plan that first pilot. If you need a hand, you know where to find me.

Talk to Yash →

Sources

  1. World Bank, "Population, total: Brunei Darussalam", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&mrv=1
  2. World Bank, "GDP per capita (current US$): Brunei Darussalam", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?format=json&mrv=1
  3. World Bank (ITU data), "Individuals using the Internet (% of population): Brunei Darussalam", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  4. World Bank (ITU data), "Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people): Brunei Darussalam", 2024. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?format=json&mrv=1
  5. World Bank, "Urban population (% of total population): Brunei Darussalam", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  6. World Bank (ILO estimate), "Employment in agriculture (% of total employment): Brunei Darussalam", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?format=json&mrv=1
  7. World Bank, "Fuel exports (% of merchandise exports): Brunei Darussalam", 2025. https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/BRN/indicator/TX.VAL.FUEL.ZS.UN?format=json&mrv=1
  8. Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, official site, 2026. https://www.bdcb.gov.bn/
  9. One Common Portal, Ministry of Finance and Economy, 2026. https://www.ocp.mofe.gov.bn/
  10. Revenue Division, Ministry of Finance and Economy, "About us", 2026. https://www.mof.gov.bn/div_revenue_aboutus/

For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.