2020

SCMP

“The first thing VCs have done is to stop new investments and spend the last two to three months just trying to figure out what is happening to existing portfolios, how they are going to help them restructure in advance,” said Wong Poh Kam, a business professor from National University of Singapore.

For now, the party is over in the tech start-up scene. “Our internal research shows a steep drop in VC funding for the first quarter of this year,” said James Tan, managing partner of Singapore-based VC, Quest Ventures.

“If the current trends hold, the line continues flat for the next two quarters before a mild recovery takes place at the end of the year, and accelerates as the new year begins.”

Quest Venture’s Tan agreed: “We think venture capital firms that have dry powder today stand to invest in the greatest game-changing companies of tomorrow.”

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Digital News Asia

The Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) announces today that it has appointed James Tan as its new Chairman of the Board of Directors.

With more than 3,600 startups employing 18,000 people, more than 100 incubators, accelerators and venture builders, and 150 venture capital funds in Singapore, ACE’s scope has increased tremendously since its inception in 2003 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

With the global recession taking grip and Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) forecasted to shrink by between 4% to 7% this year, consumer spending behavior has taken a sharp turn to a cash preservation mindset. Startups face considerably more challenges than legacy businesses in this commercial new normal.

“Covid-19 has disrupted all businesses, and for many industries, the changes will be permanent and irreversible. Businesses – GLCs, startups and SMEs alike – have to re-emerge with viable and sustainable plans to respond to a post-lockdown economy reopening in phases and peppered with unfamiliarity as the economy searches for a steady-state,” says Tan.

“This is an opportune time for ACE to re-validate and expand the role it was set up for – to support the startup ecosystem in their journey to become viable business going concerns. In this difficult period for startups, ACE provided ground-up support through public webinars and private matching activities such as the Covid-19 Seminar Series and Meet-The-VC Sessions,” added Tan, who is confident that most startups will recover and the community will emerge stronger than before.

ACE has been working closely with community stakeholders, especially government agencies, innovation enablers, and startups, to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in Singapore and beyond aggressively. ACE also helps to facilitate disbursement of government grants such as the Startup SG Founder grant and the Global Talent Ready (GRT) grant, which saw a surge in inquiries during this pandemic.

“The digital transformation momentum from Covid-19 provides an impetus for the Singapore economy to become ‘The Innovation Island’,” challenges Tan who has set this as his vision for Singapore.

“Every crisis presents its opportunities. Covid-19 is cultivating a generation of resourceful, black swan-event-smart, and resilient Singapore entrepreneurs. Their collective experience and war stories will mold them into future leaders in our innovation ecosystem. We believe that such market-operating nous coupled with dexterous operating mindsets, raises the entrepreneur quotient of the Singapore business world. The outcome is a much more permanent systematic impact,” he stresses.

Prior to his appointment as chairman, Tan served on the Board as the deputy chairman from 2016 to 2020, and as a member of the Board from 2011 to 2016. Tan replaces Dr Mark Hon, who has completed his term as chairman. Hon, who will be appointed chairman emeritus, laid the groundwork to develop ACE into the international leading startup and innovation ecosystem developer it is today.

ACE was established in 2003 by the Ministry of Trade & Industry, and became a private sector-led organisation in 2014. Its current patron is Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade & Industry who welcomed Tan as the incoming ACE chairman.

“With his many years of experience on the ACE Board of Directors, I am confident that James will build on these efforts to further strengthen the local startup community and help more startups achieve sustainable growth. Together, we can help our startups emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient,” said Koh.

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KrASIA

“Because of the internet you can work from anywhere, there are a lot of digital nomads now. This affects how people relocate internationally,” said Lee. In the past, people tended to move to places where the economy is buzzing, but now, this trend is shifting.

Last April, Moovaz raised USD 7 million in Series A funding led by Quest Ventures. YCH Group, Singapore’s largest home-grown supply chain management company, also injected capital through its corporate venture arm, SCAngels. Moovaz intends to use the money for geographical expansion.

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Digital Life Asia

As professional services firms adapt to the new normal, their knowledge management platforms will also need to evolve. Continuing its mission of modernizing knowledge-based industries, Singapore-based lawtech startup INTELLLEX has announced today that it has completed a US$2.1M funding round.

Quest Ventures led this round of funding. Participating were ​Thomson Reuters,​ ​Insignia Ventures,​ ​K3 Ventures and a Singapore government-backed venture capital fund. In conjunction with the funding, Jeffrey Seah, Partner at Quest Ventures, will join the INTELLLEX board of directors.

“INTELLLEX believes underutilized knowledge is dead weight. With the INTELLLEX platform, we convert such dead weight into knowledge assets that yield multiple and repeated value for our clients. With this round of funding, we will expand our service delivery across EU and APAC and accelerate development of new product offerings,” INTELLLEX Co-founder and Co-CEO Chang Zi Qian said in a press statement.

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The Business Times

INTELLLEX, a legal knowledge-management platform provider, has raised US$2.1 million in Series A funding led by local venture capital firm Quest Ventures, the startup announced on Thursday.

The funding round was joined by Thomson Reuters, Insignia Ventures, K3 Ventures and an undisclosed venture fund backed by the Singapore government, Intelllex said. Quest Ventures partner Jeffrey Seah will join Intelllex’s board.

Intelllex previously raised an undisclosed sum from angel investors that included Creative Labs founder Sim Wong Hoo; Tan Kim Seng and Jeffrey Khoo of private equity firm 3V SourceOne and Kelvin Chan, a former managing director of Partners Group’s Asia-Pacific private equity team.

Its other early backers include Chandra Mohan, a partner at law firm Rajah and Tann; and Chong Chiet Ping, managing partner of Small World Group Incubator. Mr Mohan and Ms Chong were also early investors in gaming hardware firm Razer.

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e27

INTELLLEX, a legal-focussed knowledge management platform, has closed a US$2.1 million funding round led by Quest Ventures.

This round also welcomed participation from Thomson Reuters,​ ​Insignia Ventures,​ ​K3 Ventures, and a Singapore government-backed VC fund.

Other early backers of INTELLLEX, including Sim Wong Hoo (C​reative Technologies​), Tan Kim Seng and Jeffrey Khoo (3VS1), Kelvin Chan (Ex-Partners Group), and Chandra Mohan and Chong Chiet Ping (Early investors in Razer), also took part in the funding round.

Chang Zi Qian, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of INTELLLEX, said that the company plans to use the funding for the expansion of its services across the EU and the Asia Pacific, as well as for acceleration of its new product offerings.

In conjunction with the funding, Jeffrey Seah, Partner at Quest Ventures, will join the INTELLLEX board of directors.

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DealStreetAsia

Singapore-based logistics and international relocation service provider Moovaz said Thursday it has entered an agreement with media group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to acquire its expat publication, The Finder.

The acquisition, which was completed in May, will add content and community-building to its service, Moovaz said in a statement.

Moovaz announced the closing of its $7-million Series A round in April led by Quest Ventures.

As part of the acquisition, Moovaz will take over the running of The Finder’s assets including its quarterly print and digital magazines, The Finder Kids supplements, web content, social media content in Singapore and Malaysia, it said in a statement.

And, Singapore Exchange Mainboard-listed SPH will become a shareholder of Moovaz.

“Global locals are a community of people with freedom imbued within their souls. What struck us the most about The Finder is how authentically its brand and content has resonated with this community for the past quarter of a century,” said Moovaz co-founder and CEO Lee Junxian.

The Finder is a free quarterly magazine aimed at helping expats and Singaporeans live well in Singapore. At 27 years, it is the longest-running publication for expatriates in Singapore.

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Tech in Asia

Singapore-based startup Moovaz today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) expat publication The Finder to add content and community-building to its relocation service.

The Finder provides expats with tips, ideas, and inspiration for what to do and buy and where to go in Singapore and around the region. It has more than 300,000 “global-local” users and is circulated in more than 400 locations, according to a statement.

Following the acquisition, Moovaz will be taking over the publication’s assets including its quarterly print and digital magazines, The Finder Kids supplements, web content, and social media content, among others, in Singapore and Malaysia.

Moovaz said the deal will help the magazine reach its relocation clients and build an ecosystem of end-to-end logistics and lifestyle services. At the same time, the startup looks to cater to global-locals as they relocate and settle into local communities.

As part of the transaction, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Sara Lyle Bow will be joining Moovaz as director of The Finder and head of community. SPH will also become a Moovaz shareholder and help with the startup’s regional outreach efforts via its media platforms, according to the statement.

Founded in 2017, Moovaz aims to offer transparency and open access to mobility services worldwide. The company said it currently has a global network of more than 2,000 certified partners.

The acquisition comes after Moovaz raised US$7 million in a series A funding round led by Quest Ventures in April. It previously secured US$1 million in seed funding from Mojo Partners in 2018, followed by an undisclosed amount of investment from Hustle Fund and two former 500 Startups partners last year.

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Singapore Business Review

Daily Briefing

From DealStreetAsia:

Logistics and international relocation service provider Moovaz has entered an agreement with media group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to acquire its expat publication The Finder, according to an announcement.

The acquisition, which was completed in May, will add content and community-building to its service.

As part of the acquisition, Moovaz will take over the running of The Finder’s assets, including its quarterly print and digital magazines, The Finder Kids supplements, web content, as well as social media content in Singapore and Malaysia.

From Tech in Asia:

AI-powered knowledge management platform Intelllex has secured $2.94m (US$2.1m) in a funding round led by Quest Ventures. Thomson Reuters, Insignia Ventures, K3 Ventures, and a Singapore government-backed venture capital fund also participated, according to a statement.

Quest Ventures partner Jeffrey Seah will join Intelllex’s board of directors following the startup’s latest funding round.

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Singapore University of Social Sciences

A student startup that designed a mobile app which reads all types of barcodes and QR codes, and then automatically sends customised promotion alerts to customers won the Alibaba Cloud-Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) Online Demo Day recently.

Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SUSS, said: “SUSS is proud to present another batch of entrepreneurs from our Alibaba Cloud-SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme. We believe in having multiple learning pathways at SUSS and this programme depicts one of the University’s many offerings for our students. Since it started in 2017, this Programme has help to create about 35 student startups, out of which 14 secured funding of more than $8 million. We look forward to helping more aspiring entrepreneurs – winning VC funding is the ultimate prize but going through the process is the transformation that we hope will take place.”

Mr Jeffrey Seah, Partner of Quest Ventures, and one of Alibaba Cloud-SUSS Demo Day 2020’s panel of judges, said, “Successful enterprises are born in times of scarcity. This is a good time for startups as the legacy advantage enjoyed by incumbents has been greatly eroded. Victory will belong to those who dare, and move with speed and purpose.”

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