SINGAPORE, 10 JULY 2017 (Monday) — Kairos ASEAN partners with the Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) at Singapore Management University (SMU) to launch Protégé Ventures, Southeast Asia’s first student venture fund run by students, for students.

Protégé Ventures serves as an exciting new opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate students from Singapore-based universities to embrace practical, real-life venture capital experience in sourcing, analysing and investing in technology-enabled ASEAN startups which must have at least one student as its founder.

The joint initiative leverages the Kairos network in the regional startup ecosystem as well as IIE's expertise in entrepreneurial education to provide structured venture capitalists (VC) training and mentorship from seasoned VCs and enable students to practise their venture capital knowledge and skills in real-life.

Based in Singapore, Protégé Ventures is backed by prominent venture capital firms in the region — Wavemaker Partners, Venturecraft, Marvelstone and TSR Partners. The firms have provided funding to kickstart Protégé Ventures where student VCs will be equipped and guided to source for student ventures in Singapore and ASEAN, conduct due diligence, pitch to the investment committee and contribute to investment decisions. Innovative student ventures will receive funding from Protégé Ventures’ VC sponsors as well as post-investment support.

“We are excited to groom the next generation of venture capitalists and support innovative student ventures in Southeast Asia. Kairos Society has always been a global leader in youth entrepreneurship and we want to provide opportunities for students in the region to learn from one another and from VC firms through practical experiences, “ said Sim Jian Min, President of Kairos ASEAN.

“We noticed there were multiple student venture funds in the United States, but none in Southeast Asia. We wanted to fill a gap in the space and empower students to experience and learn more by doing,” shared Hau Koh Foo, Director of IIE.

“SMU is excited to partner with Kairos ASEAN on this innovative initiative. The multi-sector collaboration will enable us to share IIE’s knowledge with more students through the Kairos

ASEAN network, and together bring more value to VCs and young entrepreneurs,” said Professor Gerard George, Dean of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business.

Protégé Ventures is looking for 15 driven and analytical full-time university students who have strong interest in the startup and venture capital ecosystem, with networks and ability to source promising student ventures, and strong analytical and research capability to evaluate the startups. They are expected to commit at least one year to the programme.

Over a period of one year, Protégé Ventures will take the selected student VCs through a 10-week curated and structured training programme consisting of workshops led by IIE to learn real-world VC skillsets. Student VCs will get access to prestigious industry events, network with experienced VCs and entrepreneurs, and receive bi-weekly mentorship from industry leaders. Guided by Kairos ASEAN, they will work with fellow student VCs to source for interesting student ventures, conduct due diligence, analyse potential deals, and pitch investment plans to the investment committee. Selected student ventures will receive SGD20,000 convertible note investment from the supporting VCs, as well as post-investment support from SMU.

Beyond Protégé Ventures, student VCs will get to participate in Kairos ASEAN activities where they can interact with the wider Kairos network. These include

●      Monthly dinners with Kairos mentors, members and industry leaders

●      Kairos 360 Business Mission (K360)

●      Access to industry events and regional conferences

Applications to join Protégé Ventures are open now until 31 Aug 2017.

To apply or for more information, please visit: http://protege.vc

For more information, please contact:

Amelia Chen

Marketing Lead, Protégé Ventures

Email: ameliachen [at] smu.edu.sg

Teo Chang Ching

Senior Assistant Director

Office of Corporate Communications and Marketing

DID: (65) 6828 0451

Email: ccteo [at] smu.edu.sg