Singapore university launches student venture fund

Protégé Ventures mainly aims to train undergraduate and postgraduate students to become investors, with the secondary goal of backing start-ups founded by other students across Southeast Asia. Experienced VC investors from firms such as Wavemaker Partners, Venturecraft, TSR Partners and Marvelstone will show students how to source and analyze start-ups. The firms have also made LP commitments to the fund.

The fund will commit seed funding rounds of up to $36,000 in selected companies, with SMU’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship contributing follow-on rounds and providing post-investment support. Candidates must have at least one founder who is a university student. Applications to Protégé are open until the end of August.

“SMU is excited to partner with Kairos ASEAN on this innovative initiative. The multi-sector collaboration will enable us to share SMU IIE’s knowledge with more students through the Kairos ASEAN network, and together bring more value to VCs and young entrepreneurs,” said Gerard George, dean of SMU’s business school.

Kairos ASIAN is a branch of the Kairos Society, a global network of seed funds dedicated to backing student entrepreneurs. Protégé is inspired by US-based student VC funds such as University Venture Fund, affiliated with the University of Utah, which has raised $18 million in funds to date.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Singapore
• seed