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SINGAPORE VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY ASSOCIATION
2009/10 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
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Chairman Eugene Wong (CFA, MBA) Eugene Wong is the Founder and Managing Director of Sirius Venture Consulting, a boutique venture capital and entrepreneurial finance company which works with and invests in small- and medium-sized enterprises. Examples of Sirius’ successful partnerships include the listing of Ajisen (China) Holdings Limited on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; Haike Chemical Group on the UK Alternative Investment Market; Jackspeed Corporation Limited and AusGroup Limited on the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”); and Communications Design International Limited on SGX’s former SESDAQ. Ajisen’s US$210 million IPO was awarded the Best Mid-Cap Equity Deal by Finance Asia in 2007. Prior to founding Sirius, Eugene was the Executive Director of Crimson Asia Capital Singapore, responsible for the Singapore office. He was instrumental in listing the first Hong Kong company on the Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market in 1999, successful merger of a Singapore-based logistics company with an American Fortune 100 company in 2000, and the listing of the first Malaysian company on the SGX in 2002, among other deals. Eugene is currently the Vice-Chairman of Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, and sits on the boards of several public-listed companies. He is active in social entrepreneurship and sits on the YMCA-Citibank Youth for Cause Programme and the Singapore Accounting Standard Council Executive Committee. Eugene is an Adjunct Lecturer at Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore (“NUS”), teaching subjects like New Venture Finance, Venture Capital Finance, and Entrepreneurial Finance. He recently authored his own book "Entrepreneurial Finance - Start up to IPO". Eugene graduated with a BBA (First-Class Honours) from NUS and an MBA from Imperial College London. He also attended an Executive Programme for Growing Companies at Stanford Business School; the Entrepreneurs' Organization-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Entrepreneurial Masters Programme; as well as the Price Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Eugene is a member of the Institute of Directors in UK, Australia and Singapore.
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Vice Chairman Raj Rajkumar Raj Rajkumar is a Director of Symphony Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd., the advisor to Symphony International Holdings Limited, a listed, strategic investment company focused on long-term direct-investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. Besides evaluating investment strategies and executing transactions, Raj provides operational support to the firm as well as the portfolio companies. He also serves as a director on the boards of some of the portfolio companies in the healthcare, lifestyle, media, and technology sectors. Prior to joining the Symphony team in 1999, Raj was based in Hong Kong as an executive in GE's Corporate Initiatives Group, responsible for coordinating and monitoring Six Sigma initiatives across all the GE businesses in Asia. Before his stint at GE, Raj spent nearly five years advising Fortune 500 companies, primarily in the healthcare, telecommunications, and financial services industries, while working as a management consultant with Symmetrix Inc., based in Boston. He started his career in 1985 as a design engineer with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in Japan, before moving to the United States in 1988 to set up Mitsubishi Semiconductor America’s custom chip design and fabrication business. Raj has a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kerala, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Honorary Secretary Doris Yee Doris has over 20 years of experience in engineering and technology investment. She joined iGlobe Partners in 2000. She has been involved in investments into technology sectors spanning semiconductor, software and telecommunications across US, Europe and China . Currently, Doris serves as a Director on the Boards of ForteMedia and Teralane Semiconductor and as an Observer on the Boards of Intruguard Devices and Verisilicon. She also serves on the IT Advisory Panel of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and as Honorary Secretary of the Singapore Venture Capital Association. Prior to iGlobe, Doris held senior management positions at the National Science and Technology Board (NSTB) of Singapore, a government agency promoting research and development and related commercialization. She led the organization’s efforts to promote R&D investments in the electronics and telecommunications industries, resulting in significant R&D commitments by major U.S. and Japanese companies in Singapore. She played a major role in the formation of the New Business Division and led its direct equity investment activities in IT, electronics and telecommunications. She pioneered the Venture Incentive Scheme For Startups, a co-investment scheme catalyzing the formation and development of technology enterprises in Singapore. Prior to the NSTB, Doris spent seven years in R&D involving security and communication technologies at Chartered Electronics Industries (a member of the Singapore Technologies Group) and at Telerate, a U.S. financial data services company.
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Honorary Treasurer Ichiro Kawada Ichiro Kawada is the President of JAIC Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, the wholly owned Singapore based subsidiary of Japan Asia Investment Co., Ltd. (JAIC: Venture Capital Fund Management Company in Japan. Listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange Main Board on June 2008 【Code: 8518】). Mr. Kawada has more than 17 years of experience in venture capital and private equity. His expertise in the ASEAN market is exemplified when he headed JAIC’s operations in Thailand for 1 year, PT JAIC Indonesia’s operations for 4 years and 4 years in Singapore. He has extensive relationships with Japanese corporations throughout the ASEAN region and is now overseeing the whole of South East Asia Operations. Currently he is managing three Private Equity Funds (about US$70 million) and involved in one Distressed Debt Fund (US$250 million). He graduated from Rikkyo (St.Paul’s) University, Tokyo, with a Bachelor of Law (Asian Politics), specific area of study included Economics, Politics, Law, Accounting & Corporate management in Asia.
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Committee Member Dr Jeffrey Chi An active member of the venture and entrepreneurship community seeking to contribute further as a general committee member of the SVCA. A results driven investment professional with a broad background in operations, corporate finance & strategy consulting. Invests actively in Singapore and China. Some current investments include: Community Contributions
Education & Professional Qualifications
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Committee Member Genevieve Heng Genevieve Heng is Managing Director – Growth & Expansion Capital of CLSA Capital Partners Singapore. CLSA Capital Partners is the alternative asset management arm of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, one of Asia’s leading research, brokerage and investment banks, and a member of Credit Agricole, one of the world’s top financial institutions. Genevieve joined CLSA in 1996 and has over 12 years of experience in corporate finance and direct investment. From 1990 to 1994, she worked for Singapore Press Holdings where she was responsible for the evaluation, analysis, development and implementation of several information technology projects. Before joining CLSA’s private equity team in late 1997, she was a member of CLSA’s Equity Capital Markets team and worked on several fund raising mandates for PRC companies. Genevieve is presently responsible for investments and divestments of portfolio companies in India and South East Asia and a member of the Investment Committee for Aria Investment Partners, the pan-Asian series of private equity funds managed by CLSA Capital Partners. Genevieve is currently the Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. She received an MBA from the London Business School and a B.Sc (Hons) in Computer and Information Sciences from the National University of Singapore. She is a CFA charterholder and a CAIA designee.
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Committee Member Pierre Hennes Co-Founder and Partner of Upstream Ventures, Pierre has over 5 years experience in VC and new venture creation across Asia, supported by 8 years of international corporate and startup experience across various sectors including internet and new media, mobile communications, real-estate, and the arts. Pierre currently serves on the board of several Upstream Ventures portfolio companies including Mikoishi Pte. Ltd. and Tagit Pte. Ltd. and is a frequent guest speaker and business plan competition judge at industry events and universities including INSEAD, SMU, NUS and NTU. Pierre also serves as a Director of the Business Angels Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA) (www.bansea.org), is a Charter Member of TiE Singapore (The Indus Entrepreneur) (www.sinagpore.tie.org). Pierre earned a B.A. with Honors in International Relations from Boston University, and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. He also studied at the Hochschule St. Gallen in St. Gallen, Switzerland as part of NYU’s International Management Program. About Upstream Ventures Established in 2003 in Singapore, Upstream Ventures (www.upstreamventures.com) focuses on early-stage venture creation by providing funding, expertise and networks to emerging companies across Singapore, India and China. We back outstanding teams that have the vision and discipline to build high-growth enterprises targeting Asian and global markets in sectors such as communications, Internet, IT software & solutions, IDM and semiconductors. Our operationally-experienced team engages early in the life of a company when we can most effectively accelerate growth. We build strong and reliable management teams, work closely with our companies to develop and execute strategies, and provide access to key players, markets and capital through our strong industrial and financial networks.
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Committee Member Mayank Parekh Mr. Parekh, based in Singapore, is involved in all aspects of acquisitions, operations, and the investment and management decisions of the Firm. He has the primary responsibility for the Fund’s post-investment operations, monitoring, and value-added initiatives. Mr. Parekh has over 16 year of professional experience. He was with McKinsey & Co, for 11 years, where he was the Managing Partner for the South East Asian Corporate Finance Practice and then the Managing Partner for the Singapore office. He also gained operating experience while working for the General Electric Company, both in the U.S. and Asia. Mr. Parekh earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College. He sits on the Board of Directors of Novomatrix Pte Ltd, HSBC Precision Printing Limited, and the Jing King Group.
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Committee Member Kelvin Poa Mr. Kelvin Poa is an Associate Principal at Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow. He specialises in Corporate and Commercial work, with a particular emphasis on cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions, Venture Capital & Private Equity, Competition Law and Employment Law. Recent transactions handled by Kelvin included the following:
Kelvin has won many prizes and awards, amongst which are: the Law Society of Singapore Book Prize, the Law Faculty Shook Lin & Bok Prize, the Law Faculty Montrose Memorial Prize for Top Student in Jurisprudence and was on the National University of Singapore (Law Faculty) Dean’s List during all four years of his study. He is a member of the Law Society of Singapore, the Law Society of England and Wales and the Singapore Academy of Law. Kelvin graduated from the National University of Singapore (L.L.B., Second Class Hons, Upper Division, 1999) and completed his Postgraduate Practical Law course (1999). He also spent seven weeks in May 1997 at Worcester College (Oxford University, United Kingdom) taking a course on British Political History, with particular reference to British Foreign Policy. In 2005, Kelvin was seconded to Baker & McKenzie LLP in London for a year. He is qualified to practice in Singapore, England and Wales.
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Committee Member Tan Kim Seng Mr Tan is a Managing Director and co-founder of 3V SourceOne Capital, a regional VC firm with presence in Singapore, China and USA. He is currently a Committee Member and was the former Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. He has been involved in venture capital investments in Greater China, USA and ASEAN since 1994. He was previously an Executive Director and Principal Fund Manager of UOB Venture Management responsible for fund management activities and setting up of joint-venture VC funds in China. Mr Tan started his engineering career with Texas Instruments Singapore and subsequently joined Northern Telecom as a section head responsible for new product introduction. He successfully ventured into banking industry in 1990 as an Assistant Vice President with the commercial banking sector of United Overseas Bank Group. He was the Chairman of Retail Electronic Banking Committee of the Association of Banks in Singapore and Operation Committee Member of NETS Singapore in 1991/1992. Mr Tan holds a M.Sc. (Industrial Eng.) and a B.Eng (EE) (Hons) degree from the National University of Singapore. He is an alumnus of the US Venture Capital Institute. He is also a Board Member of Hwa Chong Institution, a Singapore's premier independent school founded in 1919.
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Committee Member Kenneth Yeo Kenneth, age 42, is an Investment Director with the Allianz Private Equity Partners (APEP) based in their Singapore office. Kenneth has over 14 years of investment experience and currently focuses on investments in private equity funds in Asia. Prior to joining APEP in 2007, Kenneth was with the GIC Special Investments (GIC SI) where he served in various overseas offices and investment groups of GIC SI, including the Asia Private Equity Group and the Global Technology Group. From 1996-1999, Kenneth was responsible for post investment work on a portfolio of direct Asian investments which he managed through the Asian financial crisis. Following which he spent a year with the Asia Private Equity Group, based in Bangkok, to source and execute investments in Thailand. In 2001, Kenneth was transferred to the Global Technology Group and relocated to the GIC SI London office where he focused on making direct venture investments as well as investments in European and Israeli VC funds. From 2004-2006, he was based in the GIC SI West Coast office where he covered VC fund investments in Europe, Israel, China and the US. Kenneth returned to Singapore in 2006 where he joined the Global Strategy and Investment Group to develop investment strategies. His last appointment in GIC SI was in the Asian Private Equity Group, responsible for post investment activities in Asia. Kenneth holds a BS from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is also a CFA charter holder.
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