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Finian Tan

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Finian Tan
Education
Occupation(s)Venture capitalist, entrepreneur
Children8[4]

Dr. Finian Tan is a venture capitalist,[5] entrepreneur, the founder and chairman of Vickers Venture Partners. It is an international venture capital firm with a presence in Singapore, Shanghai, New York, Hong Kong, San Diego, San Francisco, and Kuala Lumpur.[6][2] Before he started Vickers, Tan was Managing Director, and head of the Credit Suisse First Boston (“CSFB”) group of banks in Singapore and Malaysia, a role he took on after leaving his position as the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson Planet for Asia, where he made an early investment in Chinese tech giant Baidu.

Prior to this, in 1997, Tan served as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the Singapore Government.[7]

Some of Tan's other notable investments include out-of-home media company Focus Media, the Asian Food Channel, Kongzhong Corporation, TWG Tea, SunFun Info Co., gaming software company RTG Asia, RWDC Industries, Emergex Vaccines, and life science company Samumed.[8][9]

Career

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Early career

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In the early part of his career, Tan worked with Shell Eastern Petroleum Ltd in Singapore and was later posted to Shell Japan Ltd, where he was promoted to Chief Trader. He then spent 3 years at Goldman Sachs as Vice President at J.Aron and Co (Singapore), before becoming the Regional Director and Head of J.Aron and Co. (Singapore) in charge of the Asia-Pacific Region.

Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry

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In 1997, he returned to Singapore and was asked to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry for the Singapore Government, with the aim of making Singapore a leading Asian country in innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship.[7]

Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Baidu investment

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In 2000, Tan became the Founding Partner and Managing Director of the Silicon Valley Venture Capital Firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson ePlanet for Asia. It was during his time here that he spearheaded the investment into Baidu. Tan saw Baidu's vast potential for success and invested US$7.5 million for 25% of the company, securing two board seats out of seven.

In August 2005, Baidu went public, by which time Draper Fisher Jurvetson Eplanet had 28.1%, more than Baidu Founder and CEO Robin Li’s 25.8%.[10] Today, Baidu is worth US$62 billion and is considered the best performing IPO on Nasdaq.[7]

In 2002, Tan joined as Managing Director and head of the CSFB group of banks in Singapore and Malaysia. During his tenure as head of the CSFB group of banks in Singapore, Tan remained as chairman of DFJ ePlanet’s Asian investment committee and remained on the board of DFJ ePlanet (S) Ltd until 2009.

Vickers Venture Partners

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In 2005, Tan founded Vickers Venture Partners together with his co-founder Dr Khalil Binebine and 4 other co-founders, and is currently the Chairman of the investment committee. He is based in Singapore and travels frequently to the other cities in which Vickers has a presence; especially San Diego, California, where Samumed, the largest Vickers’ portfolio company, is based and for which Dr Binebine is the sponsor of the deal and Dr Tan the co-sponsor.

He sponsored/co-sponsored and played substantial roles in several of Vickers’ portfolio companies including Cambridge Industrial Trust Management (Chairman), Asia Food Channel (Founding Chairman), M-DAQ, Spark Systems (Chairman), Entomo (Chairman), Matchmove (Chairman), Sisaf (Co-Chairman), RWDC industries (Co-Chairman), Emergex (Chairman), Eavor (Deputy Chairman), Chooch (board member), Lumitron (board member) and TWG, the co-owner of TWG Tea (board member).

Government roles and positions (1997-2000)

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As Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore, Tan also served as Chairman of the US$1 billion TIF fund. In 1997, he was a member of the Economic Review Committee of Singapore. Other roles included being on the boards of:

  • Defence Science and Technology Agency (Singapore)
  • SMA (Singapore-MIT) Governing Board
  • Singapore National Computer Board
  • National Science and Technology Board in Singapore (Deputy Chairman)
  • Life Sciences Investment Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
  • The National Cancer Centre (Singapore)[11]
  • Singhealth, the largest healthcare group in Singapore
  • Singapore Government Parliamentary Committee for Trade and Industry Resource Panel
  • Tuas Power Pte. Ltd (Singapore)
  • National University of Singapore Board of Trustees
  • The Singapore-Shandong Business Council
  • Sentosa Cove Pte. Ltd. (Singapore).

Government roles and positions (2000 and beyond)

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Tan continued to serve the country of Singapore after completing his term in the Singapore government. In 2002, he was part of the working group of the Economic Review Committee of Singapore.[12] He was also on the board of:

  • ST Electronics
  • Media Development Authority of Singapore (Chairman Audit Committee and Investment Committee)
  • Singapore Polytechnic (also on Exco)
  • National University of Singapore Investment Committee
  • National Arts Council of Singapore (Chairman of the Investment Committee)
  • Majulah Connection (Singapore).

Other roles

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He has been a board member of numerous other Vickers portfolio companies:

  • Mainspring Technology (Indonesia)
  • United Eagle Airlines (China)
  • Sunfun Info Co Ltd (listed in Taiwan)
  • Spicy Horse (China)
  • California Intercontinental University (USA, Chairman)
  • Real-Time Gaming Asia Pte Ltd (Singapore).

Other previous and current board appointments include:

  • Singapore Venture Capital Association
  • Gabrielite Foundation in Singapore
  • W Residence Council (Singapore, Chairman)
  • Sentosa Cove Owners' Council (Singapore, Founding Chairman).

Philanthropy

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In an interview, Tan shared his vision of giving away the family fortune for charity causes, saying "Africa is growing, but it is poor and education is weak. I would like to try my best to contribute.''

He has also expressed his vision to combat climate change, stating "We should at least leave the world unchanged, if not better".[13]

References

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  1. ^ Susannah Birkwood (April 25, 2012). "Profile: Vickers Capital's Finian Tan". Asian Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Russell Flannery (October 17, 2005). "Finian Tan is basking after Baidu's wild Nasdaq debut. Now he's looking beyond the Internet – and not just in China". Forbes. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  3. ^ Flannery, Russell (October 17, 2005). "FINIAN TAN is basking after Baidu's wild Nasdaq debut. Now he's looking beyond the Internet--and not just in China". Forbes Asia. 1 (5).
  4. ^ Yun Ting, Choo (23 August 2020). "Me & My Money: Venture capitalist and father of 8 supports research breakthroughs". The Straits Times. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  5. ^ Arthur Sim (June 1, 2005). "Finian Tan gears up for twin Reit ventures". St Property. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ Chia Yan Min (May 15, 2013). "Focus on people key to his success". Asia One. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Dr. Finian Tan". Family Office Insights. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  8. ^ Flannery, Russell. "Smart Money". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  9. ^ "Portfolio | Vickers Venture Partners". www.vickersventure.com. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  10. ^ "424B4". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  11. ^ "Dr. Finian Tan, Chairman Vickers Capital Group | Genmembers.com - Empowering Entrepreneurs of the 21st Century". www.genmembers.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  12. ^ "Press Release: Vickers Venture Partners raises S$86 million for first close of largest Singapore VC fund | SVCA – The Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association". svca.org.sg. Archived from the original on 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  13. ^ Cua, Genevieve. "Venture & conquer". The Business Times. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
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