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INVESTMENT PROCESS

Upon receiving an enquiry, a referral or a recommendation, we will conduct a preliminary screening to determine if the technology or idea meets our investment criteria and is within our focus areas. If it does, we will contact you for an introductory meeting, presentation or conference call to determine if we would like to pursue the opportunity further.

While our investment decisions can be made quickly, the business due diligence process that follows—including market analysis, review of company’s competitors, analysis of technology and customer reference calls—typically takes two to four weeks to complete. Thereafter, we will prepare a term sheet for the proposed investment and subsequently proceed with financial and legal due-diligence and preparation of the definitive agreements, which can take four to six weeks to complete depending on the complexity of the due diligence and the difficulty in getting consensus for the definitive agreements. Upon signing of the investment documents, we will proceed to close the transaction and have the funds made available to the company.



Preparing an Investment Presentation 

In order to better evaluate your investment opportunity, we ask that you describe your idea in a concise manner and address the following:

  • Product or Service - What does your company do?
  • Market Need - What area of “pain” or unmet need does your product and technology address? Is it something your target users absolutely need to have? What are their alternatives? 
  • What makes your idea unique? - Is your idea protectable?  If so, have you begun to seek patent protection?  If not, what is your strategy for product differentiation? 
  • Market Size, Growth, & Segmentation - How large is the market your product and technology is addressing? How fast is this market growing? Does the market logically divide into different segments e.g consumer, enterprise mobile?  Do you plan to go beyond the first market and where do you want to expand into?
  • Competitive landscape - What is the size of the competition and who are the main players in this space? Relative market share is also helpful 
  • Management Team - Describe the backgrounds of the founder(s), current management team and board members. 
  • Business Plan - What are your historical financials from a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow standpoint? What major expenses will you have? What will your gross margins be? What is your realistic plan regarding milestone execution and cash management? What is your business model?  
  • Funding - What is your current capital structure? How much has been invested in your business to-date? How much funding are you seeking, from whom, how long will it last and how will it be used?




Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

1. What is SingTel Innov8’s investment strategy?
Our goal is to invest in seed to early growth stage companies that can firstly, provide strategic benefits to the SingTel Group and secondly, generate promising financial returns.

2. What are the areas of focus for SingTel Innov8?
SingTel Innov8 invests in ideas, technologies, products and services that are related to the Group’s business including those in adjacent spaces such as internet applications and new digital media. Innov8 will also focus its investments on technologies and solutions that lead to quantum change in network capabilities and capacity, next generation devices, digital content services and enablers to enhance customer experience.

3. In what geographies does SingTel Innov8 invest?
SingTel Innov8 has a global mandate and will connect with the innovation hotspots of the world for new ideas, technologies, products and services.

4. When does SingTel Innov8 typically invest in a company?
SingTel Innov8 will invest in all stages of development of a company from seed through to early growth.

5. What amount does SingTel Innov8 invest in a company?
Depending on the stage of development of the proposed investee, SingTel Innov8 will invest anything up to S$30m per investment. In exceptional cases investments above S$30m can also be made.

6. Is SingTel Innov8 interested in partnerships?
Yes. SingTel Innov8 will seek out collaboration opportunities between the SingTel Group and the ecosystem of leading innovators, developers, entrepreneurs, government agencies, R&D as well as other capital providers. We believe the cross pollination of ideas could germinate new and innovative products and services.

We also welcome co-funding with other capital providers for our investments. SingTel Innov8 would lead or follow an investment round on a case to case basis.

7. Apart from funding, what other value does SingTel Innov8 bring to the table?
In a highly competitive world, commercialisation of any product or services is critical to the survival and eventual success of any new venture. And key to that is access to markets.

SingTel Innov8 brings the scale and demographics of the SingTel Group’s more than 383 million mobile customers, as at 31 December 2010, across Asia Pacific and Africa. These customers are from both developed and emerging markets. In addition, the Group’s assets, including subject matter experts and infrastructure will also be a valuable resource throughout the development stages of any venture.

For our co-investing partners, the SingTel Group is a good platform to reach the fast growing Asia Region.