Azione Capital

Coordinates: 1°19′58.89″N 103°54′7.38″E / 1.3330250°N 103.9020500°E

Azione Capital Pte Ltd
Venture capital firm
Industry Investment services
Founded 2006
Founder Nicholas Chan
Headquarters Singapore
Key people
 Dennis Phua
Nicholas Chan
Lee Keh Sai
Soon Choo Teck
Website http://www.azionecapital.com/

Azione Capital Pte Ltd is an Asian venture capital firm headquartered in Singapore.[1][2] The firm was named “Most Innovative Venture Capital Firm Singapore 2013” in the Global Banking & Finance Review Awards 2013.[3]

Azione Capital was a founding mentor cum business incubator of the IDM Research and Development Programme Office under the Media Development Authority of Singapore.[4]

History

“ Entrepreneurs who emphasise on their fancy education, hundreds of pages proposals, talkers-not-doers and trend-followers are filtered out right at the start. ”

—– Nicholas Chan
Executive Director of Azione Capital
Today, Business Section[5]
6 August 2008

In November 2006, the Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office of the Media Development Authority of Singapore made contact with Project Senso to explore the possibility of working together to assist new startups. The result was the formation of a separate, for-profit, and full-time entity. By early December 2006, the 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[6] of the Media Development Authority, Interactive Digital Media R&D Programme Office at the inaugural IDM Jamboree held in the Singapore Science Centre.[7]

In May 2007, the Media Development Authority announced the launch of the Microfunding Scheme and the official appointment of three mentors,[8] Azione Capital Pte Ltd being one of them.

Timeline

Management

Board of Directors

Associates

Board of Advisors

Investments

These are the portfolio startups that have been publicly announced (as at October 2008) under the care of Azione Capital Pte Ltd.

Name Industry Website Entered Exited Status
LocAsian Networks[9][15] Mobile LBS Infrastructure Provider www.locasian.net 20 March 2007 NA Research & Development, beta testing, foreign expansion
Who Works Around You Pte Ltd[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Location Based Dating www.whoworksaroundyou.com 30 January 2007 3 October 2007 Operational, foreign expansion
Hibernator[24][25][26] Internet-based system state hibernation www.hibernater.com 15 August 2007 NA Research & Development, limited beta launch
Events Core Events Management Engine 15 October 2007 NA Operational
MyWobile (f.k.a. MobileWorld)[15][27][28][29][30] Location Based Gaming Platform www.mywobile.com 18 November 2007 NA Research & Development, limited beta launch, foreign expansion
e994[31][32] Location Based Emergency Services www.e994.com 19 November 2007 NA Research & Development, foreign expansion
RenoPortal Online Portal 24 February 2008 NA Stealth mode
Talenz Crowdsourced Market Research 29 June 2008 NA Research & Development
Fusion-Ads Mobile Advertising and Analytics Platform 16 July 2008 NA Research & Development
GameMo[33][34][35][36][37][38] Secure Mobile Content Distribution www.gamemo.mobi 13 September 2008 NA Research & Development, limited beta launch

On 7 January 2009, Nicholas Chan expressed that Azione Capital would not actively explore the biotechnology sector for investment opportunities.[39]

Philosophy

“ For Asia, it's generally about the speed to market--you can't count on patents to protect your product or service. ”

—– Dennis Phua
Senior Associate of Azione Capital
ZDNet Asia, Business Section[40]
6 October 2009

Nicholas Chan, Founder and Director of Azione Capital[41] believes that entrepreneurs should start up early with a clear purpose.[42][43] The firm expects startups to be frugal[44] and ethical and not be trend and buzzword followers.[45]

The business principles of Azione Capital[46] have been the subject of discussion in public discussions and forums.[47][48] Azione Capital has also contributed insights on the Singapore startup scene (via a quarterly Venture Capital editorial column in the MyVenture magazine[49][50]) and on the venture capital environment in Asia.[51][52]

Community

On 27 July 2007, Azione Capital launched the Help Humanity Project[53] (in partnership with the World Community Grid) 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 23 March 2009, Azione Capital 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.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Expara Pte. Ltd & The Media Development Authority of Singapore (2009). Media Entrepreneur's Guide to Singapore 2009 edition p.90.
  2. ↑ Bodine, Paul (November 2008). Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance. The McGraw-Hill Companies. p.26. ISBN 0-07-159820-0
  3. ↑ Global Banking & Finance Review Awards 2013, accessed 2 July 2013
  4. ↑ News Release (25 May 2007) MDA administers new Microfunding Scheme to stimulate bottom-up innovation in IDM, accessed June 2010
  5. ↑ Fung, Esther. (6 August 2008) "It’s not just about funds", Today, MediaCorp
  6. ↑ News Release (10 January 2007) Speech by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community,Youth and Sports and Second Minister for Information,Communications and the Arts at the IDM Jamboree on 10 January 2007, 10.15am at the Singapore Science Centre, News release accessed October 2007 PDF (27.86 KiB)
  7. ↑ News Release (10 January 2007) IDM R&D Programme Office unfolds four initiatives to support R&D needs in IDM sector, News release accessed October 2007
  8. ↑ i.BITS May 2007: Launch of Micro-Funding initiative for Individuals
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 i.BITS July 2007: i.JAMMING @ MICA Building Atrium
  10. ↑ "Cradle's Entrepreneurs Pitch Ideas To Local And Global Investors", Bernama, 17 March 2008
  11. ↑ Lai, Kar Wai. (19 March 2005) "Spirit of Enterprise 2005 nomination interview for Chan Chiang Joo, Nicholas"
  12. ↑ The Brotherhood. (28 January 2009) "Nicholas Chan"
  13. ↑ Ng, Tiao Kien and Tan, Yan Jun Joy. (10 November 2009) "Voices of the Future - APEC Singapore 2009 - Day 2 interview"
  14. ↑ Wang, Jierui Joanne. (03/19/2005) "Spirit of Enterprise 2005 nomination interview for Peter Tan"
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Yeo, Vivian. (30 July 2009) "Investors still keen on Asian tech startups". ZDNet, CBS Interactive
  16. ↑ BlogTV.SG Episode 3: The Baby Crisis, Phin and FD. (15 September 2008)
  17. ↑ 9:00 News (29 March 2007), Dating agencies get funding to broaden services for singles, Channel U, MediaCorp
  18. ↑ Singapore Tonight (29 March 2007), Dating agencies get funding to broaden services for singles, Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp
  19. ↑ 林佩碧, 四个"创意红娘" 获红线基金拔14万元 (30 March 2007) Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press Holdings p.15.
  20. ↑ Ng, Kai Ling. (30 March 2007) "Need help to find a date? Call us". Straits Times Interactive Video News, Singapore Press Holdings
  21. ↑ Loh, Chee Kong. (30 March 2007) "Cupid just a click away". Today, MediaCorp
  22. ↑ Loh, Chee Kong. (30 March 2007) "Cupid just a click away". Channel NewsAsia, MediaCorp
  23. ↑ @1.45 (4 April 2007), Interview with Nicholas Chan on Who Works Around You Pte Ltd, 938LIVE, MediaCorp Radio
  24. ↑ News Release (2008) SCE Students Design Practical Software Solution, accessed December 2008
  25. ↑ Fung, Esther. (29 August 2008) "In a hurry? Bring on the Hibernater", Today, MediaCorp
  26. ↑ Fung, Esther. (29 August 2008) "In a hurry? Bring on the Hibernater", Channel NewsAsia
  27. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (15 December 2008) "Singapore Location-Based Mobile Service MyWobile.com Announces Beta"
  28. ↑ City Beats, 梁凯欣, (02/16/2009) "低迷就业市场 大学毕业生创业", 新动网
  29. ↑ News Release (August 2009) SCE Trio Make Headlines
  30. ↑ Cameron, Nicholas. (24 August 2009) "#16, Cris Lim - MyWobile"
  31. ↑ Tan, Weizhen, (13 June 2009) "Dot.coms riding a new wave", Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings p.B2.
  32. ↑ Tan, Weizhen. (13 June 2009) "Dot.coms riding a new wave". Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings
  33. ↑ Supian, Hedirman. (21 November 2008) "Startups line up for Microsoft aid". Today, MediaCorp p.B2
  34. ↑ (21 November 2008) "12 家起步公司，参加微软BizSpark计划". Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press Holdings p.27.
  35. ↑ Channel NewsAsia, Money Mind Episode 41, 11 January 2009
  36. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (15 June 2009) "TheMobileGamer: Trying Games On The Go"
  37. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (17 June 2009) "Four Singapore Startups Enter Global Business Plan Competition by DFJ and Cisco"
  38. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (20 June 2009) "Singapore Startups At CommunicAsia 2009"
  39. ↑ Fung, Esther. (7 January 2009) "Biotech firms feel the chill", Today, MediaCorp
  40. ↑ [http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62058370,00.htm Yeo, Vivian. (6 October 2009) "Asian tech startups still worthwhile investments", ZDNet Asia, Ziff Davis Publishing Company
  41. ↑ The Hyper Team @ Venture Hype (15 May 2009) "Interview with VC Nicholas Chan Part I: From Entrepreneur to Venture Capitalist", Venture Hype Corporation
  42. ↑ Yong, Debbie and Huang Huifen. (27 January 2009) "Giving teen entrepreneurs an early start", The Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings
  43. ↑ Liew, Wayne (17 July 2009) "10 Entrepreneurship Lessons Venture Capitalist Nicholas Chan Taught Me (Part 1)", Wayne Liew Dot Com
  44. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (21 October 2008). "How Would You Invest S$10,000?"
  45. ↑ Lim, Cristyano. (17 November 2008). "Featured Startup: Azione Capital Pte Ltd"
  46. ↑ The Hyper Team @ Venture Hype (22 May 2009) "Interview with VC Nicholas Chan Part II: Identifying Winners", Venture Hype Corporation
  47. ↑ News Release (5 February 2009) "BizAsia Entrepreneurial Exchange Programme 2009"
  48. ↑ Loh, Justin (26 February 2008) "Business Forum @ SMU"
  49. ↑ MyVenture (Volume 1, March 2008). What do VCs look for in a start up? Must Read Publications Pte Ltd. p.20. ISSN 1793-6241.
  50. ↑ MyVenture (Volume 2, June 2008). What do VCs look for in a start up part 2. Must Read Publications Pte Ltd. p.20. ISSN 1793-6241.
  51. ↑ Goh, Daniel. (20 April 2009) "Relationship 101 for Startups: Guanxi Matters"
  52. ↑ Cameron, Nicholas. (24 August 2009) "#15 Nicholas Chan, Singapore Venture Capitalist"
  53. ↑ Team Azione Capital page on the World Community Grid

External links