Azione Capital
Encyclopedia
Azione Capital Pte Ltd is a venture capital
firm based in Singapore
, and focuses on early stage investments in the Digital Media
, Cleantech, and Social Economy
sectors as well as the Telecommunication
and Maritime industries. The portfolio companies are geared towards Asian markets and beyond.
Azione Capital manages one of three initially approved business incubators (ten as at 2009) of the IDM Research and Development Programme Office under the Media Development Authority of Singapore.
of Singapore, made contact with Project:Senso Ltd. to explore the possibility of working to assist new startups. The result was the formation of a separate, for-profit, and full-time production entity. By early December 2006, the initial structuring of the business entity was complete and it was named Azione Capital Pte Ltd.
Early in 2007, Azione Capital Pte Ltd, along with more than 30 other partners, officially declared their support for the four new initiatives of the Media Development Authority
, Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office at the inaugural IDM Jamboree held in the Singapore Science Centre
.
In May 2007, the Media Development Authority
of Singapore announced the launch of the Microfunding Scheme and the official appointment of three mentors, Azione Capital Pte Ltd being one of them.
The working methodology of Azione Capital has been the subject of discussion in various public discussions and forums. Azione Capital has contributed insights into the Singapore startup scene via a quarterly Venture Capital editorial column in the MyVenture magazine and on the venture capital environment in Asia.
On 7 January 2009, Nicholas Chan expressed that Azione Capital would not actively explore the biotechnology sector for investment opportunities.
) within its portfolio startup companies as a simple way to introduce the budding entrepreneurs into incorporating corporate social responsibility initiatives within their startups and encouraging them to further develop their own corporate social responsibility programmes in the future.
On March 23, 2009, Azione Capital silently pledged support to the MalFreeMaps community by providing a Singapore mirror for the weekly community-created GPS maps of Singapore and Malaysia in recognition of the project team's ethical behavior and integrity in the running of a community-driven non-profit project in Asia.
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firm based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and focuses on early stage investments in the Digital Media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
, Cleantech, and Social Economy
Social economy
Social economy refers to a third sector in economies between the private sector and business or, the public sector and government. It includes organisations such as cooperatives, non-governmental organisations and charities....
sectors as well as the Telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
and Maritime industries. The portfolio companies are geared towards Asian markets and beyond.
Azione Capital manages one of three initially approved business incubators (ten as at 2009) of the IDM Research and Development Programme Office under the Media Development Authority of Singapore.
History
In November 2006, an official from the recently formed Interactive Digital Media Programme Office of the Media Development AuthorityMedia Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
of Singapore, made contact with Project:Senso Ltd. to explore the possibility of working to assist new startups. The result was the formation of a separate, for-profit, and full-time production entity. By early December 2006, the initial structuring of the business entity was complete and it was named Azione Capital Pte Ltd.
Early in 2007, Azione Capital Pte Ltd, along with more than 30 other partners, officially declared their support for the four new initiatives of the Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
, Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office at the inaugural IDM Jamboree held in the Singapore Science Centre
Singapore Science Centre
The Science Centre Singapore , previously known as Singapore Science Centre is a scientific institution in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public...
.
In May 2007, the Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
of Singapore announced the launch of the Microfunding Scheme and the official appointment of three mentors, Azione Capital Pte Ltd being one of them.
Timeline
- November 3, 2006 - Initial contact from Media Development AuthorityMedia Development AuthorityThe Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
, Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office. - December 29, 2006 - Officially incorporated in the Republic of Singapore as a Company limited by shares.
- January 10, 2007 - Declaration of support at the inaugural IDM Jamboree held in the Singapore Science CentreSingapore Science CentreThe Science Centre Singapore , previously known as Singapore Science Centre is a scientific institution in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public...
. - May 25, 2007 - Press conference for the launch of the MDA Microfinancing Scheme and 1st i.Jam Evening held in the MICA BuildingOld Hill Street Police StationThe Old Hill Street Police Station is a historic building in Singapore, and is located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.-History:...
Atrium. - July 26, 2007 - 2nd i.Jam Evening held in the MICA BuildingOld Hill Street Police StationThe Old Hill Street Police Station is a historic building in Singapore, and is located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.-History:...
Atrium. - July 30, 2007 - Invited to be part of the i.Jam Council.
- August 8, 2007 - Signing of working agreement between Azione Capital Pte Ltd and Media Development AuthorityMedia Development AuthorityThe Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
of Singapore. - November 19, 2007 - Appointed as Singapore Commercialization Partner to Cradle Investment Programme (Malaysia), which provides conditional grants of up to RM$150,000.
Methodology
Nicholas Chan, the founder of Azione Capital repeatedly emphasized on the firm's stance on entrepreneurs starting up early with a clear purpose , with the expectations of startups to be frugal, ethical while having a low tolerance to trends-and-buzzwords-chasers.The working methodology of Azione Capital has been the subject of discussion in various public discussions and forums. Azione Capital has contributed insights into the Singapore startup scene via a quarterly Venture Capital editorial column in the MyVenture magazine and on the venture capital environment in Asia.
Board of directors
- Nicholas Chan, Executive Director of Azione Capital Pte Ltd
- Soon Choo Teck, Chairman and CEO of Sim Lim Company Pte Ltd
- Lee Keh Sai, President (retired) of K.S.Lee & Associates (Asia) Pte Ltd (A Schneider Electric company)
Executive Management
- Dennis Phua, Director of Operations, Managing Director of Learning Street Private Limited
Associates
- Peter Tan, Senior Associate, CEO of Freedom Group Pte Ltd
- Terence Poon, Associate, CEO of Tech Support Singapore Pte Ltd
- Ho Mingxiu, Associate
- Janice Yip, Associate
Board of Advisors
- A/Prof. Ser Wee - School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...
- Ms. Tan Kai Syng - Artist and Lecturer, LASALLE-SIA College of the ArtsLASALLE-SIA College of the ArtsThe LASALLE College of the Arts , formerly LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, is an arts educational institution in Singapore. It was founded in 1984 by De La Salle brother, Brother Joseph McNally. Currently, LASALLE has design, fine arts, integrated arts, media arts and performing arts faculties...
- Ms. Shawna Olwen - CEO, HubNutz
- Mr. Tan Boon Tiong - Singtel
- Mr. Song Tang Yih - Vice President, Asia Pacific, F5 NetworksF5 NetworksF5 Networks, Inc. is a networking appliances company. It is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and has development and marketing offices worldwide. It originally manufactured and sold some of the very first load balancing products...
- Mr. Lim Swee Cheang - CEO, Institute of Systems Science, National University of SingaporeNational University of SingaporeThe National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
- Dr. James Ong - CEO, Origami Frontiers
Portfolio Startups
These are the portfolio startups that have been publicly announced (as at October 2008) under the care of Azione Capital Pte Ltd.On 7 January 2009, Nicholas Chan expressed that Azione Capital would not actively explore the biotechnology sector for investment opportunities.
| Name | Industry | Website | Entered | Exited | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LocAsian Networks | Mobile LBS Location-based service A Location-Based Service is an information or entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device.... Infrastructure Provider |
www.locasian.net | March 20, 2007 | NA | Research & Development, beta testing, foreign expansion |
| Who Works Around You Pte Ltd | Location Based Dating | www.whoworksaroundyou.com | January 30, 2007 | October 3, 2007 | Operational, foreign expansion |
| Hibernator | Internet-based system state hibernation | www.hibernater.com | August 15, 2007 | NA | Research & Development, limited beta launch |
| Events Core | Events Management Engine | October 15, 2007 | NA | Operational | |
| MyWobile (f.k.a. MobileWorld) | Location Based Gaming Location-based game A location-based game is one in which the game play somehow evolves and progresses via a player's location. Thus, location-based games almost always support some kind of localization technology, for example by using satellite positioning like GPS."Urban gaming" or "Street Games" are typically... Platform |
www.mywobile.com | November 18, 2007 | NA | Research & Development, limited beta launch, foreign expansion |
| e994 | Location Based Emergency Services | www.e994.com | November 19, 2007 | NA | Research & Development, foreign expansion |
| RenoPortal | Online Portal | February 24, 2008 | NA | Stealth mode Stealth mode In business, stealth mode is a company's temporary state of secretiveness, usually undertaken in order to avoid alerting competitors to a pending product launch or other business initiative... |
|
| Talenz | Crowdsourced Market Research | June 29, 2008 | NA | Research & Development | |
| Fusion-Ads | Mobile Advertising and Analytics Platform | July 16, 2008 | NA | Research & Development | |
| GameMo | Secure Mobile Content Distribution | www.gamemo.mobi | September 13, 2008 | NA | Research & Development, limited beta launch |
Corporate Social Responsibility
On July 27, 2007, Azione Capital silently launched the Help Humanity Project (in partnership with the World Community GridWorld Community Grid
World Community Grid is an effort to create the world's largest public computing grid to tackle scientific research projects that benefit humanity...
) within its portfolio startup companies as a simple way to introduce the budding entrepreneurs into incorporating corporate social responsibility initiatives within their startups and encouraging them to further develop their own corporate social responsibility programmes in the future.
On March 23, 2009, Azione Capital silently pledged support to the MalFreeMaps community by providing a Singapore mirror for the weekly community-created GPS maps of Singapore and Malaysia in recognition of the project team's ethical behavior and integrity in the running of a community-driven non-profit project in Asia.
External links
- Azione Capital Pte Ltd
- Project:Senso Ltd
- Media Development Authority, Singapore, Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office
- Azione Capital on LinkedIn
- Azione Capital on CrunchBase