A List of Venture Capital Firms in Singapore
TECHINASIA: Venture capital firms have entered Singapore in droves, which means internet startups here can look forward to a wider variety of funding options. Here is a list of venture capital firms with a presence in Singapore that are actively investing in startups in the series A rounds and above. It includes funds that are supported by the Singapore government through the NRF TIS scheme and the ESVF initiative.
While venture capital and private equity firms appear similar in their goals — to make money through means like a company’s sale or IPO — they possess different mindsets. This list doesn’t contain private equity firms.
Digital Media Partners
Digital Media Partners (DMP) is a venture capital firm focusing on emerging digital markets and dedicated to the development of the consumer internet. They only invest in companies that serve markets in Southeast Asia outside of Singapore, though having an office in Singapore is fine. They focus on startups that are revenue generating and owns a product with market fit, and will put in US$500,000 to US$1 million a deal. They will do follow-up investments as necessary in the US$1.5 million to US$2 million range. They are also positioned to help companies who have found traction in one market and are expanding to the next.
August 2014: Led a US$1.5 million series A round in Thai fashion estore WearYouWant (read more).
March 2013: Involved in a US$3.2 million round for Singapore-based digital ad platform AdzCentral (read more).
2011: Led a US$1 million series A round for epayments firm 2C2P, which has a presence in Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, and other markets (read more).
Far East Ventures
A corporate VC belonging to Far East Organization, the largest property developer in Singapore. It plans to invest from seed to growth stage in any sector, and claims that investments need not have strategic value for the parent organization. It focuses on startups in the US and Southeast Asia.
December 2014: Involved in a US$90M round in Hampton Creek, which creates synthetic eggs (read more).
2015: Invested in RedMart, a Singapore-based online grocer (read more)
Fenox Venture Capital
A venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley but also has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East. It invests in early and growth stage companies. The principal, Eddy Lee, shuttles between Singapore and San Francisco (Disclosure: Fenox invested in Tech in Asia).
August 2014: Invested an undisclosed amount in wedding services website Bridestory (read more).
May 2014: Part of a US$560,000 seed round for Singapore property site 99.co (read more).
October 2013: Part of a US$2 million series A round for Malaysian online personal finance platform iMoney (read more).
Golden Gate Ventures
Golden Gate Ventures is an early and growth stage investment firm that backs startups in Southeast Asia. It has support from TIS and ESVF. Its key partners and team members are: Vinnie Lauria, Jeffrey Paine, Paul Bragiel, Michael Lints, and Justin Hall (bios and social media profiles here).
May 2014: Part of a US$560,000 round for Singapore property site 99.co (read more).
January 2014: Part of a series A round for baby ecommerce site Bilna (read more).
December 2013: Part of a US$2.3 million Series A round for epayments company Coda Payments (read more).
Gree Ventures
Gree Ventures is a Japanese venture capital firm. It recently raised US$50 million to invest in growth stage startups across Asia. Kuanhua Hsu is the principal based in Singapore.
July 2014: Led a US$4.5 million round in Hong Kong hotel mobile booking app HotelQuickly (read more).
May 2014: Involved in a US$1.3 million round for Singapore-based mobile rewards company Yoyo Holdings (read more).
January 2013: Led a series A round for Indonesia-based fashion ecommerce store Berrybenka (read more).
Hera Capital Partners
An “entrepreneurial investment firm” that backs companies in the consumer, media, retail, and technology space. They invest between US$1 million to US$10 million per company.
April 2014: Invested US$2.6 million in Reworld Media, a media company in France (read more).
November 2013: Put US$2 million into Wildfire, a Singapore and China-based social media company (read more).
December 2012: Invested in The Stakeholder Company, a business intelligence firm.
IMJ Investment Partners
IMJ is a Japanese venture capital firm that invests in early and growth stage startups throughout Southeast Asia.Koichi Saito represents the firm in Singapore.
August 2014: Joined a US$1.5 million series A round in Thai fashion estore WearYouWant (read more).
August 2014: Joined a US$620,000 seed round in Thai education startup Taamkru (read more).
July 2014: Joined a US$1 million seed round in Philippine remittance startup Ayannah (read more).
Infocomm Investments
Infocomm Investments is a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Singapore government agency IDA. It manages over S$200 million (US$160 million). It invests in startups in Asia-Pacific and the world, and is an investor in Singapore startup accelerator JFDI.
March 2014: Led a US$2.1 million round in Singapore startup accelerator JFDI (read more).
May 2013: Joined a US$40 million round for Singapore’s luxury e-store Reebonz (read more).
April 2013: Joined a US$12 million series B round for Japanese crowdsourced translation service Gengo (read more).
Intel Capital
Intel Capital is the corporate venture arm of Intel. It invests in companies in the growth stage and above. Deepak Natarajan, its director in Singapore, manages investments in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
June 2014: Invested in New Zealand exercise management and virtual coaching startup Performance Lab (read more).
June 2014: Led a series A round for India’s mobile app CRM platform Helpshift (read more).
October 2013: Invested in Singapore-based cloud consultancy firm CloudFx (read more).
Jungle Ventures
Jungle Ventures is an early and growth stage investment firm that funds startups in India, Southeast Asia, China, and the US. It has support from the Singapore government through the TIS program and the ESVF scheme. It has a a team of 16 partners and advisors, led by founder and managing partner Amit Anand.
July 2014: Involved in a US$2.5 million series A round for India-based mobile payment startup Pokkt (read more).
October 2013: Part of a US$2 million series A round for Malaysian online personal finance platform iMoney (read more).
October 2013: Part of a US$3 million seed round for Singapore-based epayments startup Fastacash (read more).
Majuven
An early and growth stage venture capital firm. Its partners are: Lim Ho Kee, chairman of SingPost, Lee Hsien Yang, former CEO of SingTel and the brother of Singapore’s Prime Minister, Low Teck Seng, CEO of NRF, and Lu Yoh Chie, founder of Biosensors International. It backs startups in Singapore and Asia. Khairu Rejal is one of the investment managers.
March 2014: Involved in a series D round of undisclosed amount in Rigel Technology, which makes water and energy-saving restroom products.
December 2013: Involved in a US$2 million series D round in ERP software company Anacle Systems.
February 2013: Involved in a US$1.6 million series A round in green technology startup BioMax.
Monk’s Hill Ventures
Monk’s Hill Ventures is a new US$80 million fund supported by the Singapore government’s ESVF program. The firm looks at growth stage companies in Southeast Asia, with a ballpark deal size ranging between US$1 million to $3 million at 15 to 30 percent equity. Its two managing partners are serial entrepreneur Peng-Tsin Ong and former Infocomm Investments CEO Kuo-Yi Lim. Rocket Internet senior executive Stefan Jung is a partner.
New Asia Investments
An investment firm managing US$22 million that focuses on med tech, clean tech (water and energy), and industrial innovations. It is supported by the ESVF scheme and invests in growth stage startups.
August 2011: Invested in Microlight Sensors, a Singapore company that high-end optical systems for specialized applications (read more).
October 2011: Part of a US$5.2 million series B round for BioMers, a med tech startup in Singapore (read more).
February 2011: Invested in a series A round for MINT Membranes, a water treatment startup in Singapore (read more).
NSI Ventures
A US$50 million fund that invests in Southeast Asian startups in the series A or B stage. It focuses on B2B and B2C startups targeting local, regional, or global markets. It’s part of private equity firm Northstar Group.
February 2014: Led an US$8 million series A round in CXA, a health and wellness platform (read more).
Rakuten Ventures
Rakuten Ventures is a relatively new US$100 million corporate venture fund belonging to Japanese internet giant Rakuten. Headed bySaemin Ahn, it invests in early and growth stage startups across Asia-Pacific, US, and Israel.
May 2014: Involved in a US$1 million seed round for Korean file sharing app Send Anywhere (read more).
February 2014: Joined a US$3.5 million series A round for Singapore-based visual recognition startup ViSenze (read more).
December 2013: Part of a US$2.3 million Series A round for epayments company Coda Payments (read more).
Rebright Partners
A Japanese venture capital firm that focuses on early stage startups in Southeast Asia, but also does Series A once in a while. Takeshi Ebihara is the founder and general partner.
October 2013: Part of a US$2 million series A round for Malaysian online personal finance platform iMoney (read more).
October 2013: Involved in a seed round of undisclosed amount for Indonesian enterprise marketplace IndoTrading (read more).
September 2013: Joined a seed round of undisclosed amount for Indonesian restaurant information site Qraved (read more).
SBI Ven Capital
SBI Ven Capital is a fund supported by the ESVF program that invests in growth stage startups throughout Asia. It is the overseas private equity arm of SBI Holdings, one of the largest private equity firms in Japan.
April 2013: Invested US$4 million in a series B round in Panviva, an Australian enterprise software company (read more).
August 2012: Invested US$3 million in Liqvid, an elearning company from India (read more).
October 2011: Part of a US$20 million series C round for Contour Energy Systems, a portable battery startup in California (read more).
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia is one of the top venture capital firms in the world. However, its Singapore rep, Yinglan Tan, is part of the Indian office. In Asia, Sequoia primarily invests in China and India startups at the growth stage and above.
August 2014: Involved in a US$25 million series C round for India-based data protection startup Druva (read more).
July 2014: Joined a US$16 million series B round for India’s cloud telephony company Knowlarity Communications (read more).
July 2014: Led a US$14 million series B round for Bangalore-based retail loyalty and CRM company Capillary Technologies (read more).
SingTel Innov8
Innov8 is the corporate venture capital fund of Singapore’s largest telco SingTel with an initial fund size of US$200 million. Headed by CEO Edgar Hardless, the fund has a team of eightspread out across Asia. It invests in growth and later stage startups in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US.
August 2014: Joined a US$25 million series B round in US enterprise data protection startup Bitglass (read more).
July 2014: Involved in a US$2.5 million series A round for India-based mobile payment startup Pokkt (read more).
April 2014: Part of a US$3.18 million series B round for Singapore-based cyber surveillance startup KAI Square (read more).
Vertex Venture
This venture capital firm is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, an investment firm owned by the Singapore government. It recently announced a new US$80 million fund for Singapore startups. It targets growth and late stage companies.
July 2014: Joined a US$15 million series B round in taxi booking app GrabTaxi (read more).
January 2014: Involved in a US$46.5 million series B round in Californian medtech startup Invantis (read more).
January 2014: Led a US$15 million series C round in Indian kids ecommerce site FirstCry (see more).
Walden International
Walden is an international venture capital firm that invests in early and growth stage startups in Southeast Asia. Soo Ping Yong and Kris Leong are its two vice presidents based in Singapore. It receives support from the TIS program and the ESVF scheme.
February 2014: Joined a US$3.5 million series A round for Singapore-based visual recognition startup ViSenze (read more).
November 2013: Joined a US$3million series B round for Singapore-based fashion social network Clozette (read more).
April 2013: Invested in Indonesian social travel site Burufly (read more).
As much as we want to include everyone here, we have to leave out venture capital firms that invest in the region but don’t have an office in Singapore. We also have to exclude firms that invest only in early stage startups. Nonetheless, the investment community here is close-knit, so getting in touch with these firms would also mean potential introductions to investors not in this list.
