The document outlines strategies for raising funds for startups in Singapore, detailing various funding mechanisms including venture capital, angel investors, and government schemes. It highlights key competitions, incubators, and initiatives supporting startups, emphasizing the criteria investors seek. Additionally, it addresses common challenges faced by startups in securing funding and offers insights into the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Singapore.

1. SCS Digital Media Chapter Talk
23 March 2012
“Raising Funds For Great
Ideas”
Bill Liu
Chairman & Managing Partner
Stream Global Pte Ltd

2. Content
 Introduction to Venture Funding
 Eco System For Funding
– Private Investors/Government Schemes
 Investor’s Criteria
 Funding of Innovations/Start-Ups
– Stream Media
– Taggo
– SyQic Capital- (IPTV)
– Others
 Lessons Learnt

3. Financing Mechanisms at different stages of
the Start-Up process
High Founder, Friends,
and Family
Business Angels
Level of Venture Capitalists
Investment Non-financial
Risk Corporations
Assumed Equity
By Investor Markets
Commercial Banks
Low
Seed Start- Early growth Established
up
Stage of Development of Source: Onasbrugge et. al. (2000)
Entrepreneurial Firm

4. Venture Capital Investing During
Dot com Boom

5. Singapore’s Funding Eco System
Business Plan Competitions
Angel Investors (also Friends & Family)
Incubators
First Stage Funding – Venture Captial,
Bank Loans
Government Support
–Equity, Debt, Tax Incentives
Growth (Late) stage funding

6. Business Plan Competitions
 Startup @ Singapore
– Since 1999: 2200 teams and 7000 participants todate
– Grand winner $30,000, annual competition,
Organiser: NUS Entrepreneurship Centre
 Lee Kuan Yew global business plan competition
– US$60,000, (1st Prize US$36K)
– biennial competition
– Organiser: SMU Institute of Innovation &
Entrepreneurship
 ideas.inc. Business Challenge (NTU)
1st prize S$15,000, (+ $15K for prototype for
semi-finalists). Finalists get YES grants of $50K

7. Incubators– lowering initial costs
 Provideworkspace  Singapore’s Hotspots
and shared – Fusionpolis
administrative – Biopolis/Science Park
resources – NRF TIS Scheme of 7 Incubators
– NTU’s Technopreneuship Centre
– NUS’ Entrepreneurship Centre
– SMU Business Innovation Generator
 Help
with fund-raising – The Enterprise @ Jurong East
and marketing – iAxil @ Singapore Science Park
– iHub @ Jurong East
– Phase Z.Ro @ one-north
– Soho @ Central
 Generalmentoring and – Technopreneur Center @ Ayer Rajah
guidance – Technopreneur Center @ Bukit
Merah
– Technopark @ Chai Chee
– Suntec City "HOT" stands for
 About 100 incubators "Hub of Technopreneurs”
in Singapore

8. Private Investors
Angel Investors
Venture Capital

9. Where to find them?
 BANSEA – Business Angels Network of South East Asia
–Annual membership Fee $200
–Membership Benefits
 Information on deal flows & overseas contacts
 Seminars & Networking Events
 ACE - Action Community for Entrepreneurship
–Annual Events like BlueSky Innovation
 SVCA – Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity
Association
 DEALFLOW CONNECTION
–An online Interactive platform to match fund seekers (eg Start-
Ups, SMEs, etc) with sources of finance
–finance ranging from debts, equities, OTC, venture funds, private
placements as well as financial institutions.
–http://www.dealflow.org.sg

10. Government Schemes
for
Start Ups In Singapore

11. NRF Technopreneur Incubation Scheme
(TIS)
 Administered & Sponsored By National Research
Foundation (NRF)
 Start-Ups less than 5 years old and less than $5M
revenue
 Incubator, (eg Stream Global) co-invest with NRF in a
start-up, where NRF funds 85% (up to S$500K) and
Incubators funds the remaining 15% (S$88K)
 Funding is in the form of convertible Bond
 Bond is redeemable by Incubator Within 3 Years @ 5%
interests p.a.
 Else NRF shall convert it into equity stakes in the Co.
 Founder must have substantial (> 50%) stake in the Co.
 7 Incubators are into ICT, Digital Media, Clean Tech,
Biotech, etc (Another 8 Incubators just added!)

12. SPRING
Standards, Productivity and Innovation
Board, Singapore
 Focusis to champion enterprise formation
and growth
–Funding resources
–Network of valued relationships
 Works with partners to
–Help enhance the productivity and innovation and
capabilities of enterprises
–Increase access to markets and business opportunities

13. Startup Enterprise Development
Scheme (SEEDS)
 Administered By Spring
 $ match for funds raised with a third party investor
 Minimum of S$75,000 from third party/parties with initial funding of
$300K
 Maximum funding of $1 million
 SPRING SEEDS Capital will match $2 for $1 raised by the company
 SPRING SEEDS Capital and the third-party investor(s) will take equity
stakes in the company in proportion to their investments
 Start-Ups less than 5 years old
 Have paid-up capital of at least S$50,000, but not more than S$1
million
Todate
– 185 Companies Received SEED Funding Since 2001 Totaling S$63M
– More than 50% of SEED Enterprises Have Launched
Products/Services

14. Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for
Startups (YES)
A S$25 million Entrepreneurial Talent Development Fund
(ETDF) To encourage entrepreneurship among Singapore
youths by providing seed money to co-fund their startups
 Grant of up to S$50,000 to turn Innovation/Idea into a
business
 Singapore Citizens or PR below 26 years
 1st-time entrepreneurs & Co less than 6 months
 Holds at least 50% equity at the time of application & will
continue to do so for 18 months from time of funding
 SPRING Spore will match S$4 for every S$1 raised
through self-funding, schools or third-party sources, the
grant is capped at S$50,000.
 At least 50% raised comes from School/IHL

15. Media Development Authority (MDA)
iJam (& soon iJam Reload)
Scheme supports startups in their exploration of
feasibility of technologies and ideas that have the
potential to create business disruption and bold
new Industry‘ in Interactive Digital Media (IDM)
 Up to S$50K for qualifying costs for IDM innovation/
Prototype for Singapore based start-ups
 Funds facilitated by Mentor Companies (10 appointed)
 Must exhibit R&D in either technology, creative, social or
business model
 Can further tap grants from other schemes , viz
Development Assistance, Production, Marketing & Talent
Assistance Schemes

16. IDA Infocomm Start-up Programme
(iSTART)
iStart is a multi-pronged approach aimed to assist, facilitate
and nurture Singapore's ICT start-ups by increasing the
depth and potential of our start-ups through various
programmes and initiatives:
- Creating Business-Savvy Entrepreneurs
- Market Access for Start-Ups
- Leveraging International Technologies to Accelerate
Go-To-Market
- Grooming the Local Developer Community
Creating Vibrancy and Providing International Platforms
for Start-Ups

17. Business Loan Scheme For Low Income
- MicoCredit Business Scheme (MCBS)
 Person earning less than $30K p.a. & age > 18 years
 Loans from $5K to $50K (no collateral needed)
 8%+ p.a. interests
 $5 M funding from Tote Board, administered by POSB
 MCBS teaming up with Chinese Development Assistance
Council, Mendaki & Singapore Indian Development A to
Asociation to reach out to more Singaporeans

18. Tax Exemption
 All startup automatically qualify for this.
 Start-ups in operation for less than 3 years can benefit
from the tax exemption scheme.
 100% tax exemption on the first S$100,000 of profits for
up to 3 years.
 a further 50% exemption is given on the next $200,000
on a qualifying company's normal chargeable income
 The program's objective is to encourage entrepreneurial
efforts by relieving the tax burden of young start-ups.

19. IE Singapore
 Double Deduction for Overseas Investment
– Deduction of taxable income (two times foreign investment)
 Malaysia Singapore Third Country Business Development Fund
(MSBF) Jointly With Malaysian Industrial Development Authority
(MIDA).
 Local Enterprise and Association Development Programme (LEAD)
– Supports SMEs developing new industries
 Trade Credit Insurance (TCI)
– Protects against the non-payment risk of buyers
 Pathfinder program
– Help nascent Singapore-based exporters increase overseas sales
 LIS II – Loan Insurance Scheme

20. Government Schemes
for
Growth Stage Financing
LEFS
LETAS
LIS
GFP
RFS

21. What Does A VC Look For?
????
Product
Growth
$$
People

22. What does a VC look for?
 The management team
– More important than the idea, product
 Business plan – realistic? executable?
 Intellectual Property Rights – Barrier to entry?
 Scalability, Market Reach
 Free of Constraints and roadblocks i.e. legal and
regulatory issues
 Exit Plan- Trade Sale, IPO, M&A?

23. www.movend.com
Global Mobile In-App Payment Solution

24. MoVend: Mobile Vending Machine
We build MoVend to be the vending machine on mobile
To enable mobile transactions at every corner of the world

25. Global m-commerce is complicated
 Handling multiple currencies, • Various forms of SDKs and API to
exchange rate and business rules reach out to customers
• Various types of payments

26. Facts
• Developers spend on average 2-4 weeks
integrating ONE payment SDK per “Arggg! Google In-App Payments
application API is being a royal pain..…”
• For China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Amazon - Kyle @stockholmux on Twitter, 19-Feb 2012
and variety of major geographical
appstores, each come with their own SDK,
and the payment flows are different
How are you going to solve this problem?
What if there is a single, integrated platform?

27. Features of MoVend
Aggregate payment solutions around the world into one SDK
• Manage local currencies and flexible pricing
• Digital rights management in-built
• User management tools including parental control

28. Multi-platform Support
Today, MoVend supports
MoVend will also support

29. LEFS
Local Enterprise Finance Scheme
Fixed rate financing (6.25%-6.75%) to
–Upgrade, strengthen and expand operations
SPRING administered loans upto $15M for
–Buying new machinery
–Upgrading existing equipment
–General working capital

30. What Does A VC Look For?
????
Product
Growth
$$
People

31. Our Key Differentiation
Our Role With Our Incubatees/Investees :
 Providing mentorship to entrepreneurs to help develop and
refine their strategies and business models
 Assess and critique their technology, product and solution
 Determining the best practices & operational procedures
 Providing entrepreneurs with extensive network of contacts
 Fund raising & Value Creation
What Are We Looking For?
 Committed and passionate Individuals with solid technical or
business background
 Innovative, differentiated or big ideas that has high growth
potentials
 Ability to build proprietary and strong IP
31

32. Get your fan discount when you pay.
Simply give your mobile number to the cashier. Patents Pending

33. Free for merchants!
Sponsored by banks and financial
institutions.
Credit Card Networks
Banks

34. Fans get bigger discounts
Charlie Brown Café, Singapore

35. Because merchants get word of mouth
advertising on Facebook

36. Fan clubs powered
by PayPal
Merchants offer bigger discounts to fans,
and get free Facebook advertising,
sponsored by PayPal.
Merchants will soon be able to partner
with a number of banks and financial
institutions using Taggo.

37. Taggo word of mouth campaigns are far
more effective than other methods
Jessica got an exclusive fan benefit at Jolt Fashion with
ABC Bank.
Sometimes the best things in life are discovered
through friends.
10X
higher click-through rates than
20X
higher click-through rates than
traditional banner ads. average Facebook ads.

38. Value added advertising that promotes
the bank and its retail partners
Jessica Tan
Jessica got an
exclusive fan benefit
at Jolt Fashion with
ABC Bank.
- ABC Bank
VS
Jessica Tan likes ABC Bank
Jessica Tan
ABC Bank Jessica escaped to
Italy at Giovanni’s
Pizzeria with ABC
Bank.
- ABC Bank
Without Taggo, Facebook ads
only promote the bank.
Jessica Tan
Jessica is getting fit
at Paradise Gym with
ABC Bank.
- ABC Bank

39. SyQic Capital
Discovering Audiences, Uncovering Content

40. What It Does…
Building Subscriber Mass
SyQic operates and manages all aspects of
video delivery over the internet to multiple
devices, across multiple networks via its
proprietary platforms:-
• Yoonic OTT IPTV – currently deployed for
PLDT (Philippines) and Telekom Malaysia
• YooMob – currently deployed for Maxis
(Malaysia)
All these deployments will build up subscriber
mass quickly and efficiently, utilising telcos’
customer base and marketing resources

41. YooMob
YooMob offers viewing of live and VOD
channels optimized for mobile streaming
High Quality streaming even at low
bitrates to access the masses

42. SyQic’s Value Proposition…
Yoonic Storefront – The Content Hub
SyQic is now working on engaging end-users
directly by deploying its own Storefront
The Yoonic Storefront aims to be the centre of
video distribution and consumption, linking the
content providers with consumers
Leverage on the subscriber mass built up from
SyQic’s current deployments with telcos for a
headstart
Telcos will still be part of the ecosystem,
benefiting from increased bandwidth
consumption and consumers from other markets

43. The Ecosystem
Telcos /
Content ISPs
Providers
Broadcas
ters
Provide
access and
QoS Supplies
content to
Supplies Yoonic
content to
Yoonic
YOONIC Storefront
Storefront STORE-
Yoonic Storefront will
FRONT provide CMS and
supporting services to
manage the content and
Consumers will have the make it available to
opportunity to access a consumers
variety of content
Consumers

44. Some Major Clients
PLDT
Smart Communications
Telekom Malaysia
Maxis
Indosat
Globe Telecom

45. a Team that can execute
The People
Management Team
40 years combined operations experience in Broadcast the TV & Radio industry
Operations Team
Highly experienced operations & project management background
R&D Team
Pioneer in P2P-CDN software & middleware development
Advisory Team
Strategic stakeholders with relevant industry experience and well networked to
make things happen

46. Why did we invest?
 The management team
– More important than the idea, product
 Business plan – realistic & executable
 Intellectual Property Rights – Barrier to entry
 Scalability & Market Reach Potentials
 Exit Plan- Potential Trade Sale & M&A (IPO?)

47. Why Some Ventures Fail To Get Funding?
 Lack Clear Business Model
 “Mee Too” Business, Little Differentiation
 Unrealistic Valuation
 Weak Team, Lack Leadership, Not
Receptive To New Ideas/Advice
 Business Not Scalable

48. Reasons for Start-Up Faling
 Execution, execution, execution
– Commercialization of new technology is also
an art!
 Teamwork/Management Team
– Non: cohesive, co-operative and focused
 Costs outstrip revenue
 Unwilling to change course or take
remedial action
 Regulatory barriers/approvals

49. Stream Global’s Mission & Vision
Grow a STREAM of highly promising start-up companies based in ASEAN but with GLOBAL
Mission reach; focusing on Interactive Digital Media/Emerging ICT sector; partnering with
passionate & capable entrepreneurs & delivering exceptional medium-term ROI to
shareholders.
Vision
Premier S’pore based
Venture Catalyst
In
IDM & emerging ICT
2007
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

50. Thank You For Your Attention!