Singapore's CapitaLand launches VC unit

CapitaLand is prepared to invest up to S$100 million ($73.7 million) through C31 Ventures, targeting opportunities beyond Singapore. It will focus on Series A to Series C rounds for companies in five areas: innovation in energy, operations and maintenance; building and construction; design and building materials; and real estate funding and customer engagement.

Jixun Foo, managing partner of Sino-US venture capital firm GGV Capital, and David Su, managing partner of Matrix Partners China, will serve alongside CapitaLand's senior management on an investment committee that will review short-listed start-ups.

"CapitaLand is future-proofing its business by leveraging technology to innovate and build real estate of tomorrow. As a market leader with scale and depth across the entire real estate value chain, it is incumbent on us to reinvent real estate to work for our customers who are making increasing use of a growing array of online tools in how they live, work and play," Ming-Yan Lim, president and CEO of CapitaLand, said in a statement.

Earlier this month, CapitaLand joined the Microsoft Accelerator program as a global network partner to provide mentorship to start-ups and to gain access to new ideas and technology. This followed a scouting trip to New York and San Francisco for meetings with various emerging technology companies and a visit to Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle.

In May, Singapore's National Research Foundation (NRF), announced that corporate VC funds operated by CapitaLand and three other local companies would each receive S$10 million through the third installment of the ESVF. Under the program, the NRF matches private sector commitments to funds on a 1:1 basis on the condition that all the capital goes into Singapore-based high-tech start-ups.

The first two rounds of the program targeted independent venture capital firms. The new focus on corporate VC is intended to encourage large local enterprises to establish venture capital units and play a fuller role in the technology development ecosystem.

CapitaLand's fund will back start-ups that complement the real estate sector in areas such as design and construction, operations and maintenance, sales and leasing, workplace productivity and smart living solutions. Portfolio companies will be able to test their solutions in CapitaLand-owned properties.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Venture
• Fundraising
• Real estate
• Technology
• Singapore