Venture capital activity in Singapore to remain robust in 2018: KPMG

VENTURE capital (VC) activity in Singapore will remain robust in 2018, going by a latest KPMG report that was released on Thursday.

Key reasons include the launch of more early-stage (seed and Series A) corporate VC funds, and the regrouping of VC funds to focus on later-stage (Series B to D) deals.

Chia Tek Yew, head of financial services advisory at KPMG Singapore, added that Singapore companies are likely to be more aggressive in seeking earlier and larger rounds of funding from the local, US, China and overseas markets.

"Late-stage transactions will also continue, with investors placing larger but safer bets on companies with proven business models and the strongest path to profitability."

For the fourth quarter of 2017, Singapore recorded 17 VC deals totalling US$205 million, 57.2 per cent higher from a year ago. For the whole year, Singapore recorded 112 deals totalling US$1.2 billion.

Cross-industry solutions will be a key focus of VC investments in the next few quarters, the KPMG report predicted.

Mr Chia said: "The applicability of innovative technologies, whether AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning or blockchain, to different sectors will likely keep investors focused and investment high regardless of any pauses among specific industries.

"The tech sector will also continue to take a lion's share of overall investments."

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