Jump to content

Draft:Protégé Ventures

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Protégé Ventures is Southeast Asia's first student-led venture capital fund and training programme.[1][2][3]

Established in 2017 by Singapore Management University’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) and Kairos Asean[1][2], it aims to give undergraduate and postgraduate students from Singapore-based universities a practical, real-life venture capital experience in sourcing, analysing and investing in technology-enabled Asean start-ups with at least one student founder.[2][4][5]

Students from all local universities in Singapore who are interested in the startup and venture capital ecosystem can apply to enroll in the program when the application opens every year. They will go through a 10-week training program, including workshops, events, and mentorship from investors and entrepreneurs to learn venture capital (VC) skillsets.[2][4][5][3]

Protégé Ventures student VCs will source for interesting student ventures, conduct due diligence, analyse deals and pitch investment plans to an investment committee. Selected student ventures will receive capital with cheque sizes ranging from S$25,000 to S$50,000.[2][3]

Protégé Ventures’ first Fund is backed by Wavemaker Partners and Dr. Jeffrey Chi, Vice Chairman of Vickers Ventures Partners.[1][6][7] Ministry of Education, Singapore and National Research Foundation, Singapore, also provided funding to support the scaling and expansion of the programme.[3][8][7]

In September 2023, Protégé Ventures launched a new S$500,000 (or US$366,900) fund contributed by David Su, Founding Managing Partner of Matrix Partners China.[9][10][11][7]

Since its inception, Protégé Ventures has trained 251 students by 2023. Protégé Ventures students have evaluated over 1,100 deals and invested S$265,000 [or US$194,500) in 10 student startups. These student startups collectively raised S$35m (or US$26m) in follow-up funding.[9][7]

Portfolio

[edit]

Protégé Ventures’ portfolio of student startups includes Nurture.AI[6][12], Joni.ai, TalentTribe, Lumitics, Rootit[1][13][12], JiPay, Usertip, Intellect, Hypotenuse AI and Angie’s Tempeh.[14][7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Student-led Protege Ventures grooms future VC, start-up recruits".
  2. ^ a b c d e "New venture fund launched - run by Singapore university students, for students". The Straits Times. 10 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d "SMU's Protégé Ventures as a catalyst for entrepreneurial education".
  4. ^ a b "New Venture Set to Groom Uni Students in S'pore into VCS - Gives Them $20k to Play with". 11 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem".
  6. ^ a b "Singapore student-run VC fund makes its first investment in AI research startup". 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem".
  8. ^ "Protégé Ventures as a gateway for VCS to invest in the future".
  9. ^ a b "Protege Ventures launches new S$500,000 fund to develop student entrepreneurship, Singapore - THE BUSINESS TIMES". 11 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Deals in brief: Protégé Ventures launches fund to support student-led startups, Vertex Ventures closes USD 541 million fund, and more". 12 September 2023.
  11. ^ Goh, Timothy (11 September 2023). "Singapore can be a trusted node for technology and innovation: DPM Heng". The Straits Times.
  12. ^ a b https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9-ventures/recent_investments
  13. ^ "The Next Generation of Singapore VCS". 15 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Protege Ventures Investor Profile: Portfolio & Exits | PitchBook".