Press

Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore

Singapore and Vietnam are among the top three start-up eco-systems in Southeast Asia. With our common goal of driving further economic growth through technology and innovation, there is scope for Singapore and Vietnam to tap on each other’s innovation eco-systems for partners, funding and talent.

Our collaboration in innovation has gained momentum through (i) BLOCK71 Saigon, a joint collaboration between the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Vietnam’s Becamex IDC, which is home to more than 1,000 startups, incubators, and accelerators since 2011; and (ii) the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) node in Ho Chi Minh City, where Enterprise Singapore partnered Saigon Innovation Hub (SIHUB) and Quest Ventures to facilitate start-up exchanges between both countries.

In December 2022, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and Vietnam’s National Innovation Centre (NIC) signed an Innovation Work Group MOU to connect innovation eco-systems between Singapore and Vietnam. I am happy to see that NIC is signing MOUs with several Singapore Institutes of Higher Learning and corporates like UOB and Keppel later to foster closer partnerships between both sides.

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TechNode Global

ApartX, a Quest Ventures-backed property technology startup focused on rental property management, has on Wednesday announced that it had secured seed funding of $250,000 from Kazakhstan-based Big Sky Capital and Activat VC.

The seed funding will be used to drive talent acquisition, improve platform functionality, and expansion into new regions such as Southeast Asia, ApartX said in a statement.

Prior to this round of funding, ApartX was backed by Singapore-based venture capital firm Quest Ventures as part of the world-class Kazakhstan Digital Accelerator which was managed in conjunction with Qazakhstan Investment Corporation, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan.

“We are delighted with the results that ApartX has seen in Central Asia and look forward to supporting its continued growth,” said James Tan, Managing Partner at Quest Ventures.

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CNBC

Southeast Asia’s digital economy has plenty of growth potential, backed by strong fundamentals including over 460 million digital consumers, young and tech-savvy populations, as well as rising internet penetration.

The digital economy across six countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc — known as ASEAN-6 and comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — is projected to grow 6% annually.

“Regulations often lag behind innovation and there has to be new, effective laws to areas like data and privacy protection as the landscape evolves,” said James Tan, managing partner at Singapore-based venture capital firm Quest Ventures.

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Ministry of Trade & Industry, Singapore

Singapore’s commercial interests in Kazakhstan are in the master-planning, logistics and connectivity, innovation, consumer goods, infrastructure, as well as the oil and gas sectors. Notable Singapore companies that have undertaken activities in Kazakhstan include:

Quest Ventures is backed by the Kazakhstan sovereign wealth fund – Qazaqstan Investment Corporation (QIC formerly known as QazTech Ventures). QIC’s investment into Quest Ventures saw the catalytic development of the Central Asia startup and innovation ecosystem with Kazakhstan at its node. Through direct investments and programmes such as the Kazakhstan Digital Accelerator (a comprehensive programme with seed funding jointly developed by QIC and Quest Ventures), Quest Ventures is currently Central Asia’s largest and most active investor by number of investments made.

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Lianhe Zaobao

农业科技起步公司Fefifo的创办人方家豪和苏启文虽然是科技行业背景，过去对农业行业了解不多，但他们相信凭借所累积的创业和科技领域经验，能通过“共享农场”（co-farm）方式，让小农民更可持续地耕种。

他们一人是数码多媒体公司创办人，一人曾是新加坡政府投资公司（GIC）的科技专才。两人没有耕种农业背景或经验，却联合创立了Fefifo这家农业科技起步开公司。

Fefifo至今共筹集了310万美元（414万新元），投资者包括本地创投公司求索创投（Quest Ventures）、马来西亚RHL Ventures，以及韩国KB Investment等。公司也正展开新一轮的700万美元集资。这笔资金将有助于公司扩展他们在马来西亚的共享农场与数码化农业合同的商业产品，并进入印度尼西亚市场。

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New Straits Times

HOMA2U, a Malaysian online marketplace for home improvement and interior design supplies, revealed that it has secured US$875,000 (RM 3.87 million) in its pre-series A funding.

The investment round was led by Quest Ventures Asia Fund II, an early-stage venture capital fund managed by Quest Ventures Pte Ltd, a leading Singapore-based venture capital firm. This is Quest Ventures Asia Fund II’s second cheque for Homa2U.

Worldwide Management Solutions and Qhazanah Sabah Berhad (QSB) are also participants in the investment round.

The construction and renovation industry is quickly adopting circular economy concepts that emphasise sustainability standards and optimal usage of natural resources.

By integrating environmentally friendly practices and social responsibility into their business offerings, Homa2U hopes to set new standards in design and sustainability, helping more individuals and businesses bolster strategies to achieve net zero carbon emission targets.

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Alejandro Cremades

James Tan has gone from startup founder to operating an $80M venture capital fund to fuel the growth of other early-stage ventures today. Now on his third fund, he’s already helped create four unicorn companies.

On the Dealmakers Podcast, Tan talks about being on both sides of the table, investing in over a hundred companies, building marketplace businesses, network effects, being ruthless when going against the competition, and as an entrepreneur.

Plus, going public, when you need to exit your company, and what he is looking to fund now.

After successfully launching and exiting his first company, James Tan went on to take his second venture public on the NASDAQ.

Going public and especially listing on the NASDAQ may well be the big dream of many entrepreneurs. Though for James, it was also very much about seeing the right timing to exit your company and move on.

He says that “many entrepreneurs fail to understand that there is a window of opportunity when the industry that you’re in and the company that you’re doing can be well understood and well covered by the market at large.”

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TechNode Global

HOMA Sdn Bhd (HOMA2U), a Malaysian marketplace for renovation and interior design materials, announced Tuesday that it secured $875,000 in its pre-series A funding.

HOMA2U said in a statement that the investment round was led by Quest Ventures Asia Fund II, an early-stage venture capital fund managed by Quest Ventures Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based venture capital firm.

HOMA2U will also channel the funds to help more people amplify their commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability as well as help them meet their ESG goals through their Yellow Boxes and online platform.

HOMA2U is working towards growing the business threefold and will be concentrating its efforts on opening a total of 18 Yellow Boxes throughout Malaysia and Singapore.

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Campaign Asia

Co-founded by Jonathan Eg, Tony Jen and Benyamin Ramli in Singapore in 2016, Partipost launched its mobile app in 2018 and quickly began doubling and tripling its influencer userbase every month, attracting the attention of financial backers like SPH Ventures and Quest Ventures.

From its early operations in Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia, it quickly expanded into six markets, including Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong, and will expand to Thailand and Vietnam in a few months.

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联合早报

瑞士信贷银行价值170亿美元的额外一级资本(Additional Tier 1，简称AT1）债券减记归零，本地不少投资者本金无归，担心更多此类债券会面对同样风险。

市场人士指出，许多投资者并不了解AT1债券的风险，建议想投资银行债券的话考虑优先级别（seniority）较高的债券。

本地创投公司求索创投（Quest Ventures）合伙人佘庭瀚也表示，身边不少人投资了各银行的AT1债券，多数人认为这是安全的产品，但现在不少人宁可脱售这类债券蒙亏，也不要承担本金无归的风险。

瑞信2019年5月在新加坡发行7亿5000万元的AT1新元永久债券，获得了超过27亿元的认购额。91%的债券是新加坡的投资者户头认购，7%的来自亚洲其他地区，投资者类型方面，84%的是私人银行客户，10%是基金经理。这批债券的票息率5.625%，在当时低利率的市场显得吸引人。

AT1债券也称为应急可转债（Contingent convertible bond，简称CoCo债券），当银行资本水平低于一定程度时可以被转换为股票，甚至可以减记作为缓冲，不同AT1债券的条款各异。一般上瑞士的银行债券包括减记条款，法国和英国银行一般采用转换股票。

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