UNICON is the flagship event organised by National University of Singapore (NUS) Entrepreneurship Society (NES). Founded in 1992, the NES is a tertiary organisation in Singapore, dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship at NUS and empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs.
In this Masterclass, Dr. Jeremy Loh shares the following insights on the various financing options for startups and the fundamentals of venture debt:
Different funding sources: Personal savings, friends and family, crowdfunding, angel investments, series A-E fundings, IPO or acquisition.
Ideal conditions for equity financing: unique and disruptive business model, high growth, have prior business success or investor connections, and willing to give up equity.
The relationship between venture equity and shareholder dilution
Venture debt can be used to extend cash runway, supercharge growth, lower equity dilution, and increase valuation.
How venture debt can be successfully used as a complementary financing tool to equity financing.
The collaboration will extend Pace as an alternative payment option to over 20 international brands in the region, including consumer brands such as Michael Kors, TUMI, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Steve Madden, as well as Nike in Thailand and Pedro in Malaysia.
“We are very impressed with the incredible growth that Pace is experiencing. As one of the newer entrants, Pace has quickly captured the fintech market in the region,” said Jeremy Loh, managing partner of Genesis Alternative Ventures, in a statement.
In this Masterclass on the fundamentals of venture debt with entrepreneurs at global early-stage VC Antler, Dr. Jeremy Loh shares the following insights:
Background of venture debt industry
Blended costs of capital of traditional bank debt, venture equity and venture debt
The relationship between venture equity and shareholder dilution
How venture debt can be successfully used as a complementary financing tool to equity financing
Advice for future founders with big ambitions and need capital to scale
Aozora Bank invests in Genesis Alternative Ventures fund, signs MOU to support Japanese start-ups’ expansion into Southeast Asia
Singapore, 4 June 2021 – Genesis Alternative Ventures said today that Aozora Bank has invested in its US$80 million venture debt fund and the two parties have also agreed to support the expansion of Japanese start-ups into Southeast Asia. Genesis and Aozora’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Aozora Corporate Investment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today for a business partnership that will, among others, provide “a more comprehensive support framework to Japanese venture-backed companies looking to expand into Southeast Asia.” The MOU will also see the two parties share information and expertise on venture debt and venture capital in Asia, execute joint marketing strategies targeting customers, introduce investment and financing opportunities for venture capital-backed companies in the region, and co-host events related to the venture capital industry.
For Aozora, the partnership with Genesis follows a recent arrangement with SVB Capital, the investment arm of the US high-tech commercial bank Silicon Valley Bank. Dr Jeremy Loh, Co-Founder and Partner of Genesis Alternative Ventures, said: “We look forward to partnering Aozora to introduce venture debt to start-ups in Southeast Asia and Japan. “We believe that venture debt is ideal for young companies with strong growth trajectory as it will allow them to expand without diluting founders’ equity.” Aozora Bank is a full-service Tokyo-based bank with assets of more than ¥5 trillion and backed by some of the largest investment firms in the world. It launched a Japan venture debt fund in November 2020 for Japanese technology companies
Venture debt, generally deployed by way of senior, secured non-convertible debenture accompanied by equity options, is appropriate for emerging, high-growth businesses that need to extend their cash runway to get to the next stage of growth. These companies may lack the track record to meet traditional criteria for bank loans or their founders may wish to minimize equity dilution
Genesis was founded by Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Mr Martin Tang in 2019
About Genesis Alternative Ventures Genesis Alternative Ventures is Southeast Asia’s leading private lender to venture and growth-stage companies funded by tier-one VCs. Genesis is founded by a team of venture lending pioneers who have backed some of Southeast Asia’s best-loved companies. Armed with a strong reputation among entrepreneurs and investors, Genesis is a trusted partner in empowering corporate growth while minimizing shareholders’ equity dilution. Genesis was founded by Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Martin Tang in 2019.
For media queries, please contact: Catherine Ong Associates | Catherine Ong Romesh Navaratnarajah Mobile: (65) 9697 0007 | Mobile: (65) 9016 0920 cath@catherineong.com | Email: romesh@catherineong.co
A great insightful discussion with Ben J Benjamin from Genesis Alternative Ventures on the state of the funding climate in SEA and the role of Venture Debt!
When talking about fundraising the first type of funds entrepreneurs usually talk about is equity financing, let’s call it the typical VC fundraising route. But depending on the stage your startup is in, debt financing might be a good fit.
With a maturing tech-ecosystem, growing companies, bigger needs for working capital, and more profitability (or at least road to profitability) the need for alternatives to equity financing grows as well. Debt financing is a great option to explore.
The Genesis Forum casts the spotlight on Southeast Asia’s trailblazing founders and thought-leaders who share their experiences about the innovation and impact ecosystem in Southeast Asia.
Genesis Forum 2021: Highlights
Genesis Forum 2021: Introduction
Genesis Forum 2021: PwC Singapore presents Southeast Asia Venture Debt Industry Report 2021. Co-authored by Genesis Alternative Ventures and PwC Singapore
Genesis Forum 2021: Panel Discussion 2: “Profit First, Impact at Scale: Identifying Meaningful Impact Investment Opportunities in Southeast Asia”
Genesis Forum 2021: Breakout Room 2 “The Future of Work and Living”. Conversation with industry leaders
Genesis Forum 2021: Closing Remarks. Mr. Harvey Toor, Chief Investment Officer, Singapore Management University
Genesis Forum 2021: Keynote address. “Profit with purpose, my personal journey to here”. Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak
Genesis Forum 2021: Panel Discussion 1: “The Dual Role of Debt and Equity Financing for Venture-backed Companies in a Hyper-liquid Capital Market”.
Genesis Forum 2021: Breakout Room 1 “Ketahanan”: The Resilience of These Indonesia Start-ups”. Conversation with industry leaders
Genesis Forum 2021: Breakout Room 3 “Accelerating Financial Inclusion Across Southeast Asia Through Fintech”. Conversation with industry leaders
About Genesis Alternative Ventures
Genesis Alternative Ventures is Southeast Asia’s leading private lender to venture and growth stage companies funded by tier-one VCs. Genesis is founded by a team of venture lending pioneers who have backed some of Southeast Asia’s best loved companies. Armed with a strong reputation among entrepreneurs and investors, Genesis is a trusted partner in empowering your company’s growth while minimising shareholders’ equity dilution.
www.genesisventures.co
www.genesisventures.co/Forum2021
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In Southeast Asia, venture debt is fast emerging as an alternative and complementary source of financing for high-growth technology companies that traditionally only raised equity as a source of capital.
At its core, venture debt is entrepreneur-friendly as it helps founders and cash-hungry startups avoid over-diluting shareholder equity at early stages of a company’s growth. Used appropriately, venture debt can also extend the cash runway between fundraising rounds, sometimes helping companies achieve performance targets set by equity investors (or avoid dreaded valuation down-rounds). Another benefit of venture debt is that, in appropriate instances, it is able to support companies facing unexpected market turbulence or short-term capital traps.
While already an established alternative financing source in the US, Europe, Israel and India, venture debt has only recently emerged in Southeast Asia as a mainstream financing option for high growth tech companies. In 2015, the Singapore Government identified venture debt financing as a key driver to boost the local start-up ecosystem. Singapore launched a S$500 million venture debt programme to encourage qualified lenders to provide venture debt to technology start-ups. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in venture debt activity in the region.
For more information, download the full report here.
The PDF version of this media release can be downloaded here
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AI Fintech Trusting Social raises venture debt from Genesis Alternative Ventures
SINGAPORE, 29 April 2021 – Headquartered in Singapore and operating across Vietnam, Indonesia, India and the Philippines, AI Fintech Trusting Social announced an undisclosed venture debt financing with debt investor, Genesis Alternative Ventures. Trusting Social is backed by Sequoia Capital, Beenext, Tanglin Ventures and 500 Startups.
Trusting Social delivers AI-led products to leading banks and finance companies, enabling them to provide credit to under-served consumers at scale.
Today, Trusting Social’s credit insights cover more than a billion consumers and are used by more than 130 financial institutions across Vietnam, Indonesia, India and the Philippines. Trusting Social is now focused on bringing its broader suite of AI-driven products and services (a full stack of lead generation, credit insights, eKYC, digital onboarding and portfolio management) to market, and to enable 100 million credit lines.
The company has two business models – an Enterprise business that allows financial institutions to access its capabilities on a pay-per-use basis, and a Partnerships business, where it jointly creates and manages consumer credit portfolios with an FI partner, and shares in the net profits.
“We are tapping on venture debt to strengthen our balance sheet, diversify funding sources, and accelerate the company’s growth, especially in our Partnerships business,” said Founder and CEO Nguyen Nguyen, PhD. “Our ambition is to enable financial inclusion on an unprecedented scale, and Genesis will be helping us frame our reporting for this purpose.”
Singapore based Genesis Alternative Ventures recently announced the final close of its US$80 million fund. “The flow of credit is a key driver of economic growth,” said Eddy Ng, Head of Investments and Portfolio at Genesis. “We are excited to be supporting Trusting Social’s growth as they increase their breadth of product offering, helping banks and financial institutions to increase their reach to the under-served consumers.”
A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) makes no products and does not sell anything. In fact, the SPAC’s only assets are typically the money raised in its own IPO. Generally, a SPAC is formed by an experienced management team or a sponsor with nominal invested capital, typically translating into a ~20% interest in the SPAC (commonly known as founder shares). The remaining ~80% interest of the SPAC’s shares is held by public shareholders through “units” offered in an IPO.
Some well-known names in the SPAC industry include buyout specialist Alec Gores, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, and former Citigroup Inc. banker Michael Klein, while in Malaysia, internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove also filed for a $250 million SPAC.
A shareholder that prefers to exit prior to the initial business combination can sell its units in the market or choose to have its shares redeemed for its pro rata portion of cash from the IPO that is being held in the trust. At this stage, the SPAC typically does not have a target company to merge with.
In its IPO, a SPAC typically offers units, consisting of a share of common stock and a fraction of a warrant, at $10 per share.
The money raised then goes into an interest-bearing trust account until the SPAC’s founders or management team identifies a private company looking to go public through an acquisition.
From a SPAC to De-SPAC
The SPAC is required by its charter to complete that initial business combination — or “de-SPAC” transaction — typically within 24 months, or liquidate and return the gross proceeds raised in the IPO to the public shareholders.
Once an appropriate target company has been identified, the SPAC and the target undertake a merger, acquisition, or other transaction that results, in most cases, in the operating business becoming a publicly traded company that effectively “takes over” the public company status of the SPAC. As a result of this process, the SPAC is “De-SPAC” and continues its life as a public company.
The De-SPAC process is similar to a public company merger, except that the buyer (the SPAC) is typically required to obtain shareholder approval, which must be obtained in accordance with SEC proxy rules, while the target business (usually a private company) does not require an SEC-compliant proxy process.
A SPAC can seek a PIPE (private investment in public equity) deal if it needs to raise additional capital to close a merger transaction with a target company. A PIPE arrangement may become necessary where the cost of acquiring a target company exceeds the funds that a SPAC has in its trust account. For example, Singapore’s sovereign wealth investor GIC announced a $200 million PIPE into SPAC-backed View Inc. Tiger Global, along with others, will inject $295 million via a PIPE into the Matterport-Gores SPAC.
Besides providing capital, PIPE investors can also validate the valuation of the target company. Raising a PIPE is quite similar to a normal fundraising round where the PIPE investors will value the target. PIPEs prove that there is investor demand for the company at a certain price. Once the PIPE is closed and the SPAC merger announced, and if the PIPE is oversubscribed, investors who could not gain access during the PIPE would be able to purchase in the public markets instead. There are short-term arbitrage SPACs with investors who have no interest in actually owning the company being taken public.
SPACs in Asia
Asia’s representation in the global pie has been small so far – about 11 out of 2021’s 304 SPAC IPOs, and just US$4.7 billion in SPAC mergers. Given the region’s large pool of new-economy companies, bankers are now plugging it as a hot spot for merger targets.
It was reported that SoftBank-backed Grab will go public through a merger with a SPAC that could value the ride-hailing giant at nearly US$40 billion (S$53.6 billion). This would make the Grab SPAC the largest-ever, blank-cheque deal.
Singapore’s SGX is the first major Asian bourse to consider the listing of SPACs. The Exchange is proposing regulations to allow SPACs with a minimum market value of S$300 million (US$223 million). Hong Kong, Indonesia, and other markets are stepping up efforts for SPAC listings.
An article written by Tech In Asia. Read the full article here
Singapore-based private lender Genesis Alternative Ventures said it has closed its US$80 million debt fund for Southeast Asia, which it claims is the first venture debt fund in the region.
The company didn’t specify, however, if this was the first or final close of the fund.
Anchored by Singapore’s Sassoon family – a clan known for its retail dealings – other investors in Genesis Alternative Ventures Fund I include Japan’s Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, and Hong Kong multiasset investment firm Silverhorn Group. Earlier backers include Indonesia’s CIMB Niaga and Seattle-based global investment impact fund Capria Fund.
“Venture debt in Southeast Asia has been thrust into the limelight during the Covid-19 period with entrepreneurs seeking more efficient capital and putting in place additional capital buffers,” said Genesis Alternative Ventures’ co-founder and managing partner, Jeremy Loh.
