Original post by Elaine Huang via e27
The Singapore government is now inviting venture funds to submit proposals, as part of the Early Stage Venture Fund scheme
Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Teo Chee Hean announced atTechventure 2013 in September that the government will be injecting S$50 million (US$40 million) into early-stage technology companies based in the city-state, as part of the existing Early Stage Venture Fund (ESVF) scheme.
Administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF) under the Prime Minister’s Office, the initiative will now be taking in proposals from venture funds.
Teo, who is also the Chairman of the NRF, said, “One piece of feedback we often get is that there is still a lack of early-stage financing in Singapore and the region.”
First announced in July 2008, the inaugural batch of five venture capital firms areBioveda Capital, Extream Ventures, NanoStart Asia, Raffles Ventures Partnersand Walden International. Collectively, these five funds have invested in more than 20 technology companies.
ESVF-approved VC funds will invest in early-stage, Singapore-based technology companies, which will see a 1:1 co-investment approach. The NRF will then invest S$10 million to S$15 million into each of the ESVF-approved funds.
