- Will allocate US$110 mil over the next 3 years for deep tech startups
- Now has 52 co-investors supporting startup growth with expertise & funding
SEEDS Capital (SEEDS), the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), has appointed 20 new local and global partners to co-invest in innovative Singapore-based deep tech startups under the Startup SG Equity scheme. SEEDS will allocate US$110 million (RM668 million) over the next three years, aiming to catalyse an additional US$219.5 million (RM977.5 million) through private sector partnerships in areas such as advanced manufacturing, pharmbio/medtech, agrifood tech, sustainability (including energy, circular economy, urban mobility, and water), spacetech, and quantum tech.
[RM1 = US$0.22]
With these new appointments, SEEDS now has 52 co-investors offering technical and domain expertise, commercial knowledge, international networks, and early-growth investment capabilities to help startups scale successfully.
Enabling startups’ overseas ambitions through global networks
According to EnterpriseSG, new partners such as East Ventures (Indonesia), Global Brain (Japan), HIVEN (South Korea), Paspalis Capital (Australia), and Valuence Ventures (USA/South Korea) will provide resources and networks to help startups expand into new markets for customer acquisition or supply chain diversification. For example, Paspalis’ strong presence in Australia’s Northern Territory has enabled SEEDS’ spacetech investee Equatorial Space Systems to test-bed its solutions. Meanwhile, East Ventures’ networks in Indonesia have helped Mesh Bio secure its first Indonesian customer and supported AMILI in expanding operations there.
“Expanding into Japan presents challenges such as cultural differences, communication barriers, and complex corporate environments. Many Singapore startups struggle to navigate Japan’s intricate decision-making processes and indirect communication styles. We help our portfolio companies localise their strategies and refine their value propositions for the Japanese market,” said Tatsuya Matsumoto, partner at Global Brain.
“We also guide them in relationship-building and integrating their solutions into the broader strategic goals of Japanese corporates, ensuring smoother market entry and long-term partnerships,” he added.
Driving growth through technical expertise
The new appointments also include local investors familiar with Singapore’s business landscape, who can advise startups on regulation and scaling. These funds will enhance local capital deployment and ecosystem development. Notable investors include Vickers Venture Partners, iGlobe Partners, K3 Ventures, Antares Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Tin Men Capital.
“While Singapore’s deep tech landscape is still maturing compared to more established startup ecosystems, it has reached a critical inflection point, thanks largely to numerous government initiatives,” said Arun Pai, principal at Monk’s Hill Ventures.
“Previously, we made selective deep tech investments, but our current pipeline includes a significantly higher proportion of deep tech startups. These founders are targeting diverse areas such as material science in agritech, advanced robotics, AI for healthcare diagnostics, and next-generation semiconductor technologies across Southeast Asia,” he added.
Deep tech startups require substantial support due to long technology and product development cycles and the need for significant capital at the growth stage, particularly for production lines, industrial scaling, or clinical trials. New partner funds such as healthcare VCs Kurma Partners, 22Health Ventures, and Trinity Innovation Biosciences Singapore; sustainability VCs Eurazeo and Shift4Good; and hard tech VCs Xora, Matter Venture Partners, and ST Engineering Ventures bring industry and technical expertise to support these startups effectively.
Julien Mialaret, operating partner, and Ernest Xue, director of Eurazeo, commented: “In 2025, we expect investment activity to accelerate due to the maturity of key technologies and their increasing economic viability, driving broader adoption. Efforts in Europe and Asia to support green technologies and low-carbon economies will further fuel investment momentum. Our focus remains on helping founders scale solutions effectively across target markets.”
Strengthening Singapore’s deep tech ecosystem
SEEDS Capital chairman Cindy Khoo said: “We are pleased to see strong interest from the venture capital community, ranging from established Singapore-based funds to international funds with deep expertise in backing deep tech leaders, as well as corporate venture funds seeking to support startups with synergistic technologies and business models.”
“SEEDS is committed to strengthening Singapore’s startup ecosystem and will continue nurturing a strong core of deep tech startups. We look forward to working with our new co-investment partners to develop and scale the next generation of innovative, impactful technologies,” she added.
To date, nearly US$2.2 billion has been invested in over 330 startups under the Startup SG Equity scheme. To further support early to early-growth stage deep tech startups, SEEDS has also raised its co-investment cap from US$5.8 million to US$8.9 million per startup.
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