Genesis

Christopher Yap: From Intern to Associate

What does it take to go from a curious intern to an Investment Associate in the dynamic world of venture capital? Meet Christoper Yap.

Chris started as an intern with Genesis in June 2022. He was hired as a full-time investment analyst upon graduation from the Singapore Management University as a Finance and Banking major. Since then, his passion and drive quickly propelled him through the ranks, leading to his promotion to Senior Analyst in July 2024 and, most recently, to Associate in July 2025.

We caught up with Chris to uncover the experiences that have shaped his exciting career journey so far.

Genesis [G]: Hi Chris, please tell us more about yourself.

Chris [C]: I’ve always had a keen interest in finance, investments, and entrepreneurship. My ultimate goal is to be an entrepreneur, starting a company and growing it while helping to improve the lives of others.

Outside of work, I am an avid basketball fan, watching the latest games or classic match-ups of the 1990s. I also enjoy football, golf, hanging out with friends, reading and watching movies, or trying out new experiences and challenges.

[G] At university, you majored in Finance and Banking. What prompted your choice?

[C]: I’ve always been interested in Finance from a young age. I first started investing in stocks in secondary school, and I really enjoyed figuring out the story behind the numbers. Things like: why did a company’s sales improve? How would the macroeconomic environment affect them? What’s their value proposition against competitors? I loved forming my own thesis based on the information I gathered.

The diverse and dynamic nature of Finance was very engaging and exciting to me, allowing me to tap into different skill sets and see the interlink between business, finance, and economics.

[G]: Please describe your typical workday, if there is such a thing!

[C]: There is no such thing as a typical workday! The amount of innovation out there is amazing, especially in the tech industry. It is dynamic and constantly evolving, and there is always something new to learn every day!

The fast-paced environment keeps me constantly engaged, while on slower days, I research emerging industries and technologies, or topics which I am particularly intrigued by, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Crypto, Metaverse, or Mixed Reality (XR).

[G]: What was your internship experience like at Genesis and what prompted you to accept the offer of a full-time analyst role?

[C]: I initially joined Genesis with no experience in the venture debt/capital industry. However, the team was very open and willing to guide and mentor me.

Being an intern at Genesis is great if you’re inquisitive and enjoy working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. As long as you take initiative and ask questions, the seniors—including the Partners—are more than willing to teach you.

Interns have the opportunity to take on higher-level responsibilities, such as being involved in a deal from origination to execution, attending networking events, talking to startup founders, undertaking financial modelling and due diligence, and culminating with a presentation to the Investment Committee (IC) for approval.

Genesis places a strong emphasis on learning and development, where the team members take turns to their experiences, be it during weekly discussions or through masterclasses.

Besides working hard, the team knows how to have fun too! For one of our Bonding Day, we went for a short hike, raced each other in the Luge at Sentosa, and ended off with a durian buffet! When overseas travel opened up, the team went on a trip to Penang, taking in the sights and eating a lot of delicious food.

The dynamic and challenging nature of venture debt investing, coupled with the positive culture at Genesis and the opportunity to further develop myself prompted me to accept the conversion offer and continue my journey with Genesis as a full-time member of the Investment and Portfolio team.

[G]: What advice would you give to undergraduates who are seeking an internship in Genesis or any VC firm?

[C]: There is no defined path into the VC space, and that is what makes it so exciting in my opinion! You will have the opportunity to work with professionals from diverse backgrounds and learn from them. Start developing your soft skills and build meaningful relationships with professionals within the VC ecosystem. You’ll find that most are willing to give advice and share their personal experiences.

The VC space is fast-paced, dynamic, and constantly evolving. This means that an aspiring venture capitalist should be comfortable being uncomfortable, pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, and being able to adapt and work in an unstructured environment.

A strong technical foundation is a good starting point. This includes learning to build financial models, understanding business models, financial statements, valuation, and so on. But it’s just as important to back our technical skills with an inquisitive and open mind, and to dig deeper into the story behind the numbers.

[G]: Finally, congratulations on your promotion to Associate, Chris! How do you feel about this next step in your career at Genesis?

[C]: Thank you for the recognition. I am grateful for the mentorship and guidance from the Partners, and the support from the team who have helped me achieve this milestone. I look forward to continuing to grow and develop myself, striving towards the next milestone in my career.

The technology industry has been one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors of the global economy in recent years. 2022 was a tale of two halves. The first half of the year (and even into Q3) continued on a positive note and benefited greatly from the COVID-induced growth on the user and innovation front. Globally, startups benefitted from the preceding year of funding strength which saw investors plough $621 billion into startups globally, including $20+ billion record funding for Southeast Asia startups.

Towards the second quarter of 2022, we surveyed our portfolio founders on the fundraising environment and business outlook. A clear majority of them were optimistic about the future, observed business growth but were already noticing the slowdown in fundraising. Amidst these uncertainties, three of our portfolio companies Deliveree, Believe, and Trusting Social raised approximately $180 million of funding (April to June 2022).

Source: CB Insights State of Venture 2022 Report

As we rolled Into the second half of 2022, and certainly more towards Q4, a new reality set in for the tech industry clouded by an array of challenges ranging from economic uncertainty, market volatility, geopolitical tensions and reverberating ripples from the pandemic. Venture investors slowed their pace of investing, due diligence took longer, valuations retreated, and we started seeing signed term sheets being delayed or even revoked. Round sizes also began shrinking and later stage startups struggled to raise growth capital while holding on to lofty valuations set during their prior fundraising rounds. Funding for tech companies globally declined to $415 billion, -35% YoY but remained healthy compared to pre-pandemic levels.

According to Carta and as a benchmark on valuation, 22% of US venture-backed companies in the US, both private and public, reduced their valuations in Q3 2022, nearly tripling year-over-year. Meanwhile, as the maxim goes, “flat is the new up” with 34% of companies witnessing a rise in their valuations — the lowest increase in five years.

While the weakening fund raising environment became more evident as the year progressed, robust fundraising in the first half of the year more than compensated for the slowdown in the second half of the year with 887 funding rounds totaling US$28.8 billion in 2022 (compared to $25.7 billion raised in 2021), according to a TechinAsia report.

Referring to a joint DealstreetAsia and Enterprise Singapore report, Singapore-headquartered startups closed 517 deals in the first nine months of 2022 raising $8.11 billion, a little shy of the 487 deals and $8.28 billion raised in the same period of 2021, and with less dealmaking as the year prior.

VCs Prefer Early Stage, Late Stage Deals See Declining Investment Interest

Investment statistics from the earlier report also indicate VC preference towards early stage deals, which are defined as seed through Series B rounds. Late stage are attributed to Series C and above rounds. From the graph below extracted from the DealstreetAsia and EnterpriseSG report, investors have shifted their investment dollars into a larger number of smaller, earlier venture deals. The median size of seed rounds have doubled from $1.2-1.5 million in 2021 to $2.5-3.0 million in 2022. For later stage deals, the report also highlighted a contraction of deal value for Series D and E companies by 30-50%.

In the United States, startups seeking late-stage funding are failing to attract investors as dour sentiment in the public markets and dull exit conditions make it tougher to justify higher valuations. As valuations slip to reasonable levels and startups begin to trim operating expenses to get closer to cash or EBIDTA positive levels, they may once again start to look attractive to venture and PE investors who are keen to deploy their fund capital to work.

M&As & IPOs

We observed a notable rise in private-to-private mergers and acquisitions, as publicly-listed big tech companies saw a steep decline in their share price and valuation which in turn affected the SPAC and IPO listing opportunities. Completed venture-backed acquisitions in the first three quarters of 2022 totalled $81.7 billion, according to PitchBook data, down 40.7%, from $137.8 billion in the same period the year before. No significant venture-backed tech startups went public. In total, IPO deal proceeds plummeted 94% in 2022 — from $155.8 billion to $8.6 billion — according to Ernst & Young IPO report. Looking at 2023, there is an air of optimism that the IPO drought will “un-thaw” and favorable market conditions will return to allow the growing pipeline of IPO filings waiting to list – including Instacart (US), Vinfast (Vietnam), Tiktok (China), Stripe (US) and Epic Games (US).

On the M&A front, Microsoft reportedly acquired Fungible, a Santa Clara maker of data centre chips and storage device for $190m, about $134 million less than Fungible had raised in funding since its launch. Closer to home, according to a Tech in Asia report, Singapore-headquartered Amplify Health – a joint venture between AIA Group and Discovery Group – has announced its acquisition of AI-powered data analytics firm Aida Technologies. GoTo Group, the Indonesia-based tech giant, has acquired Swift Logistics Solutions for 583 billion rupiah (US$38 million).

Cryptopocalypse

A year in review would be incomplete without mention of the events that took place in the crypto space which was rocked by high-profile scandals through the year. Terra Luna for example, a cryptocurrency that was launched in 2019 as a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, witnessed a crash of its Terra (LUNA) crypto token in May 2022 from $120 to $0.02, a 99.9% correction. Forbes Digital Asset estimated that nearly $60 billion was wiped out of the digital currency space.

Three Arrows Capital (3AC), a crypto hedge fund founded in Singapore and believed to be managing around $10 billion in crypto assets, incurred significant losses due to its staked Luna position. 3AC has since filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to protect its US assets from creditors. And this triggered a contagion of Chapter 11 bankruptcy involving Voyager, BlockFi, Genesis Global and Celsius who had dealings with 3AC. And just before the year ended, the crypto industry experienced a Black Swan event that saw crypto exchange FTX valued at $32 billion based on its most recent funding round declared bankrupt. FTX Exchange was the world’s third largest cryptocurrency exchange specializing in derivatives and leveraged products. News around FTX’s leverage and solvency involving FTX-affiliated trading firm Alameda Research triggered a liquidity crisis when FTX’s customers demanded withdrawals worth $6 billion. FTX Token (FTT) is a utility token that provides access to the FTX trading platform’s features and services. The value of FTT fell by more than 80% within two days. The crypto industry is still reeling from a brutal 2022, having lost over US$2 trillion of its value throughout the year. Crypto companies still managed to raise a total of US$21.3 billion in funding in 2022, down 42.5% from the previous year.

Recalibration in 2023

The general consensus is that 2023 will remain challenged but with green shoots on the horizon. Negative macro conditions are set to continue into 2023 – sustained inflation, raised interest rates, Russia v Ukraine, China-Covid slowdown etc. However, there has also been positive news flow on many of these fronts in the past weeks (e.g. inflation levelling off; China emerging quicker than expected from Covid-slowdown, China tech reawakening etc).

Taken together, and as it relates to the tech industry, it seems 2023 will provide the backdrop for a healthy recalibration period for startups globally. In Southeast Asia, for example, where most founders have not yet experienced a significant market downturn, this has been (and will continue to be) an opportunity for founders to adjust internal KPIs towards a more sustainable growth and fundraising future. Creativity loves constraint and we believe that great startups, with solid fundamentals, will emerge winners in a tight operating and funding environment.

Cash is king. VCs are encouraging their portfolio companies to conserve cash and extend their cash runway into 2024 so as to be able to operate through some of these macro headwinds. To that end, it’s worth noting that the companies in Genesis Fund I Portfolio have a weighted average cash runway of approximately 17 months this quarter (up from 13.5 months in Q3 2022).

Profit before growth. Founders are expected to be more disciplined around spending and investors are edging these startups to turn “profitable”, the definition of which is wide, but in these times has come to prioritise a meaningful and sustainable business model.

Talent stocking. Hiring exceptional talent used to come at a premium but with many startups downsizing, startup founders can now hire more prudently with less pressure on the P&L. In Southeast Asia, it’s been reported that retrenched executives from tech companies (and new job seekers) are actively in the market looking for opportunities but with more modest salary expectations.

Dry powder. Venture firms have continued to raise record capital, even as startups received far less money than they did in 2022. Dry powder was estimated to be as high as $1.3 trillion globally for private equity and $580 billion globally for VC. While we do not expect VCs to invest at a pace comparable to 2021, there is pressure stemming from fund size, duration to deploy and the need to put capital to use. As previous downturns have clearly shown, investors with dry powder will find it a rewarding time to deploy capital, amidst more reasonable valuations and the ability to set better deal terms.

2023 Hot VC Target Sectors

January is a hotbed for new tech innovation unveiled to consumers through the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas USA. The 2023 show is focused on a number of areas, including the metaverse and Web3, digital health, sustainability, automotive and mobility, and human security for all. There was strong participation from Asia which include those from South Korea, which number more than 500 and include the likes of Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG, while just under 150 exhibitors hail from Taiwan. We highlight some interesting technology showcased at CES:

- Sony teamed up with Honda to exhibit a new brand of electric vehicle called the Afeela. The Afeela logo appears on a narrow screen, or “media bar,” on the vehicle’s front bumper. This can also interact with people outside the vehicle and share information such as the weather or the car’s state of charge. Unlike the car Sony showed off at CES 2020, this car is expected to hit the North American roads in 2026. Japan and Europe will follow.
- The battery-operated WasteShark by the Dutch firm RanMarine Technology is an autonomous surface vessel designed to remove algae, biomass, and floating pollution such as plastics from lakes, ponds, and other coastal waterways. At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris, which causes severe injuries and death.
- Canadian-based eSight Eyewear plans to display a headset designed to help people with visual impairments such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is an eye disease that can blur your central vision. It happens when aging causes damage to the macula — the part of the eye that controls sharp, straight-ahead vision. The macula is part of the retina (the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye). AMD happens very slowly in some people and faster in others. If you have early AMD, you may not notice vision loss for a long time; hence the importance of regular eye exams. Once the user puts on the device, they will be able to see distinct features such eyebrows, mouth and eyes.
- Singapore-based Igloo Company will show off its second generation of smart padlocks at CES, including a slimmed-down fingerprint-based model and another featuring enterprise-grade security. The latest smart padlocks will ship in the spring. The keypad-based Padlock 2 builds on the company’s original Bluetooth-enabled smart lock by manufacturing it to military standards, including a hardened steel case. The Padlock 2 gets eight months out of a single charge of its lithium battery (the original relied on disposable batteries), and its shackle can withstand up to 15kN of cutting force, 5kN of pulling force, and 100Nm twisting force.
- And last but not least, there has been immense interest in generative AI since ChatGPT came online and mesmerised consumers with its ability to provide real-time chat responses (see below). In 2019, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI, the tiny San Francisco company that designed ChatGPT. Microsoft is now poised to challenge Big Tech competitors like Google, Amazon and Apple with a technological advantage as it is rumoured to be in talks to invest another $10 billion in OpenAI. See the picture below (right column) where we tested Open AI’s ability to write a short paragraph on electric vehicles. Try it at https://chat.openai.com/chat

More Southeast Asian startup founders to tap venture debt, according to INSEAD and Genesis Alternative Ventures survey

More than 60% of founders would consider using venture debt to raise up to US$5 million each for Series A and B funding
Venture capital firms support venture debt and would recommend portfolio companies to use venture debt

Singapore, 28 December 2022 – More than 60% of Southeast Asian startup founders would consider using venture debt to raise up to US$5 million each, according to a survey by the INSEAD Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI) and Genesis Alternative Ventures.

Founders would tap venture debt for Series A and Series B funding and would also prefer to raise from specialised venture debt lenders in order to access their networks and future rounds of funding, as well as for their help in building a credit track record.

The latest INSEAD GPEI and Genesis survey found that almost all startup founders polled had heard of venture debt, but only 27% have used it. Most of the venture capital (VC) firms surveyed, however, have recommended venture debt to their portfolio companies in the past two years and will continue to do so. About 82% of VC firms’ portfolios have used venture debt, and going forward most of the VC firms surveyed would recommend venture debt to their portfolio companies.

On the investor side, the study found that in the current environment of rising interest rates, investors prefer the yield and risk profile of venture debt.

The respondents were mainly from enterprisetech, healthtech and fintech companies in Southeast Asia.

The survey covered a total of 94 VC firms, startup founders and investors, and was carried out between 8 July to 1 August 2022.

The findings come as more startups in Southeast Asia have turned to debt financing given declining valuations. They have closed at least 15 financing deals totalling US$819 million in the third quarter of 2022, or just over half of the debt raised since the start of 2022.

Vikas Aggarwal, Academic Director of the INSEAD Global Private Equity Initiative and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD, said: “Venture debt plays a critical role in the ecosystem of entrepreneurial finance, and has become increasingly important to startups in Southeast Asia in recent years.”

Dr Jeremy Loh, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Genesis Alternative Ventures, said: “Our latest survey with INSEAD offers hope that startup founders will continue to view venture debt as a useful and necessary source of funding, complimentary to venture equity.

Genesis was founded by Mr Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Mr Martin Tang in 2019, to support early-stage growth companies in scaling up while minimising dilution in founders’ shareholdings.

The report of the survey can be downloaded here.

About INSEAD, The Business School for the World

As one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. Our research, teaching and partnerships reflect this global perspective and cultural diversity.

With locations in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi) and now North America (San Francisco), INSEAD’s business education and research spans four regions. Our 165 renowned Faculty members from 42 countries inspire more than 1,500 degree participants annually in our Master in Management, MBA, Global Executive MBA, Specialised Master’s degrees (Executive Master in Finance and Executive Master in Change) and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD Executive Education programmes each year.

For more information, visit www.insead.edu.

About INSEAD Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI)

The Global Private Equity Initiative (GPEI) is INSEADʼs private capital think tank which works hand-in-hand with private equity and venture capital firms, institutional investors and governments around the world to foster entrepreneurial ecosystems. It connects companies and entrepreneurs with the right sources of capital for their stage of development. GPEI covers research topics ranging from early-stage venture capital to growth equity to buyouts of mature businesses. For more information, visit www.insead.edu/gpei.

About Genesis Alternative Ventures

Genesis Alternative Ventures is Southeast Asia’s leading private lender to venture and growth stage companies funded by tier-one VCs. Genesis is a trusted partner in empowering corporate growth while minimising shareholders’ equity dilution. Genesis is founded by a team of venture lending pioneers who have backed some of Southeast Asia’s best-loved companies. Genesis was founded by Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Martin Tang in 2019.

For more information, visit www.genesisventures.co.

For media queries, please contact:

Catherine Ong Associates

Catherine Ong

Mobile: (65) 9697 0007

Email: cath@catherineong.com

Joel Ng

Mobile: (65) 9873 5728

Email: joel@catherineong.com

The ambition of any startup was to become a unicorn. However, with the recent battering of the financial markets and the looming threat of a 2023 global recession, the pendulum of venture financing has swung from feast to famine.

Startups in Southeast Asia have not been spared from the “perfect storm”. Gone are the days when venture funding was readily available for “growth at all costs.” Instead, investors have been tightening their purse strings and prioritizing strong unit economics, sustainable growth, and conserving cash. Therefore it is not surprising that Founders are feeling anxious and looking for alternative sources of financing.

To explore the ecosystem’s perceptions of such an alternative financing instrument, venture debt, INSEAD GPEI collaborated with Genesis Alternative Ventures to survey founders, venture capital firms, and investors.

Read our whitepaper here: Click to download

Genesis welcomes our latest Limited Partner, OurCrowd, is a global venture investing platform that empowers institutions and individuals to invest and engage in emerging companies. OurCrowd manages more than $1.9B in committed funds for its 300+ portfolio companies and venture funds.

We sat down with Jon Medved (JM), Founder & CEO of OurCrowd. John is a serial entrepreneur and investor, who has been named by the Washington Post as “one of Israel’s leading high tech venture capitalists” and by the New York Times among the “top 10 most influential Americans who have impacted Israel.

Q1: You’ve been in the startup industry for a very long time. What is it that excites you about the industry?

JM: Startups are the lifeblood of technological innovation and progress. Decades ago, Lockheed Martin invented Skunk Works, and Xerox created Xerox Park, where the brightest minds could dream up big ideas unhindered by stultifying corporate red tape.

Today, the smartest companies in the world – including all the tech giants – realize that the only way to bring innovation into their products is to scout for startups developing relevant tech, invest in them, and snap them up. Today’s entrepreneurs have become Rockstars who are often celebrated and admired. They are responsible for building the world’s largest companies who have completely transformed our lives. Startups are developing the tech we need for computing, communication, and commerce, not just for the tech industry alone, but to address the critical issues of our time: food production, healthcare, clean water, sustainable energy and much, much more.

As a venture capitalist, I have the privilege of enabling visionary founders and innovators by connecting them with the investors who can fuel their startups and transform their dreams into commercial reality. Our companies literally save lives, heal the sick, and provide fresh food, water and clean energy where it’s most needed. They protect critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks. They provide the digital tools that help businesses grow. They entertain and they create employment. And when they succeed, they repay their investors many times over. It’s the best job in the world.

Q2: OurCrowd is a well-known equity investor and you’ve now launched a venture debt strategy. Can you tell us your rationale? What has been the reaction from your investors and startups?

JM: OurCrowd’s mission was always to democratize access to private markets, so in that sense it’s just a natural continuation of our journey. This initiative also came at a perfect time. Demand for venture debt is at an all-time high as entrepreneurs and investors alike realize its critical importance in the market.

This new debt product serves us in two ways. It allows us to further support our portfolio companies by offering them non-dilutive financing, which is highly relevant given the decline in valuations and the desire to avoid serious dilution from a down round. It also expands our value proposition to our investors with a cash-generating facility that provides steady income and much shorter duration than the equity investments. We are getting great feedback from both portfolio companies and investors for adding this new asset class, as evidenced by the oversubscribed Genesis first close.

Q3: Why did you choose to partner with Genesis?

JM: We decided to partner with Genesis because of the Genesis team’s strong domain expertise, with 40 years of VD/VC/PE experience and $100m+ venture debt deals executed. They are probably the most experienced venture debt team in Southeast Asia. The team’s performance speaks for itself in the early results from Fund I.

Genesis also gives us access to a unique market opportunity. Venture debt is growing strongly across Southeast Asia and high-growth companies that raise venture debt typically do so concurrently with an equity fund raise. In 2021, a record $621B was invested into global startups with $25B injected into companies in Southeast Asia. This represents a 3x increase over equity raised in 2020.

OurCrowd also likes to invest alongside strong LPs, like the Fund I investors who also decided to invest in Fund II and include some of the strongest institutional investors in the region. Moreover, we know many of the key members of the funds management for many years, and not only like them and appreciate them as fine human beings, but we continually are amazed by their talent and high ethical standards. When a great team addresses a huge and fast-growing market opportunity at the right timing, this is a good time to invest.

Q4: Where do you see the venture capital industry, especially venture debt, going in the next 5 years in SEA and Israel?

JM: A typical benchmark used by research analysts is to estimate the total size of the venture debt market as a percentage of total venture capital invested during a given year. Estimates are that the venture debt market in SEA represents ~2-5% and in Israel ~5-10% compared to 15-20% in the US. These two markets achieved fundraising records in 2021. Israeli startups raised $25.4b, a 136% increase on the previous year, while SEA startups raised $25.7b, a 167% YOY increase. We believe that the record VC money raised in 2021, maturing of the market and strong demand for venture debt amid the current global slowdown will continue to be the main drivers pushing the growth of this market.

Q5: How and where can startups in SEA and Israel collaborate together?

JM: Startups are shrinking the world. Cross-cultural collaboration is essential for innovation, because it breaks boundaries of thinking and attitude. Just look at how many of the top tech executives in the US are immigrants. One of Israel’s great strengths that has helped make our tiny country a global tech powerhouse is the fact that our population comes from more than 100 different countries, creating a rich cultural diversity that expands knowledge and thinking. Every time an Israeli startup begins a collaboration with a partner or customer from another country, it adds to its experience and effectiveness.

We are now seeing the same phenomenon in our new relationship with the Gulf states following the signing of the Abraham Accords, where Emiratis and Israelis are bringing different and complementary skills and experience to bear on a wide variety of issues and creating something brand new and even more exciting. In the same way, collaboration between startups in SEA and Israel can only enrich everyone involved and expand their horizons. Israeli companies can benefit from SEA skills in scale up and manufacturing, SEA companies can benefit from Israeli R&D prowess and deep tech innovation.

Q6: What do you look for in a founder or founding team?

JM: OurCrowd vets hundreds of startups every month and chooses perhaps one or two percent to add to our platform. Our founders must display technological excellence, relevant experience, original proprietary technology, good management skills and commercial sensibility. It is very rare for one person to have all those skills, so we tend to invest in teams of founders whose skills and experience combine to create the right group to establish, lead and build a company with a potentially commercial product. Moreover, we want to work closely with our teams, so it helps to like them!

Q7: What are the challenges and opportunities that you are seeing in the tech industry?

JM: The world is in crisis. We need answers to the critical issues facing our planet and its people. Startups can create the technology we need to fix the world. Just look at BioNTech, a startup founded by Turkish immigrants in Germany that created the vaccine marketed by Pfizer. Startups that tinker with problems that no-one needs to solve will not survive. But founders who identify a real problem, develop a practical, commercial solution and find a way to market will continue to succeed.

Q8: Any advice to founders on weathering the current downturn?

JM: This market correction was almost mandatory if you look at the soaring valuations of the past few years. Founders can no longer expect to enjoy the soaring double-digit price/revenue ratios that we have seen. There is still a lot of venture capital waiting to be deployed, but investors will want to see realistic business models and more modest spending. Founders should trim costs, extend their runway, and turn to alternative financing like venture debt instead of dreaming of huge cash injections from selling off tiny parcels of equity at high valuations.

Q9: What is your favourite movie and why?

JM: It’s A Wonderful Life. No explanation necessary.

Q10: What’s next for you?

JM: I have the greatest job and the cutest grandchildren in the world. I’m staying right here with them in Jerusalem, the most beautiful city on Earth.

September 5, 2022 by Garage – Business Times

TOUGH market conditions are creating a spike in demand for venture debt among startups. A tighter funding environment along with unfavorable exit conditions in public markets have led to more venture debt requests, even more so than at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

Venture debt provider Genesis Alternative Ventures has been tracking quarter-on-quarter growth in venture debt requests and is seeing an average of between US$80 million and US$100 million of requests per quarter currently.

Traction among investors for venture debt appears to be growing, as Genesis Alternative Ventures is now raising its second fund, with a target of US$150 million. Half of the funding target has been committed, with 80 per cent of the investors following on from the first fund.

Read the full Business Times article here.

US-based-Capria-makes-first-investment-in-S-E-Asia-through-Genesis-Alternative-Ventures-Fund-1-Image-640x400-1.jpg

Venture debt provider, Genesis Alternative Ventures, has launched its second venture debt fund, with a target of US$150 million. About half of fund II’s target has been raised at the first close earlier in August. The first close had 80 per cent of fund commitments come from existing limited partners, Sassoon Investment, Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, Mizuho Leasing and Silverhorn among others. New investors also include OurCrowd, an Israel-based global venture investing platform.

For full Business Times article (25 Aug 2022))

Genesis Alternative Ventures, a private lender to ventures and growth-stage companies, is looking to raise $150 million for a second fund to finance startups across Southeast Asia. The Singapore-based firm has raised almost half of the fund at first close this month, with commitments from existing investors including Sassoon Investment Corp., Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, Mizuho Leasing and Silverhorn, Genesis said in a statement Thursday. Israeli investment firm OurCrowd Ltd. has joined as a new backer.

For full Bloomberg article (25 Aug 2022)

Genesis Alternative Ventures, a private lender to ventures and growth-stage companies, is looking to raise US$150 million ($209.1 million) for a second fund to finance startups across Southeast Asia.

For full The Edge Singapore article (25 Aug 2022)

Following the success of its debut $90million fund in 2019, Singapore-based venture capital firm Genesis Alternative Ventures has launched its second venture debt fund to raise $150m million to finance start-ups across Southeast Asia.

For full Technode Global article (25 Aug 2022)

Genesis Alternative Ventures第二次推出创投债务基金，筹集1亿5000万美元（2亿零870万新元）来资助东南亚起步公司。上一轮是在2019年，基金总额为9000万美元，已投资25家起步公司，其中两家是独角兽公司，即数据平台Matterport和金融服务平台Akulaku。

For full Lianhe Zaobao article (30 Aug 2022)

Strong investor support with almost half the Fund committed at first close.
80% of first close commitments from existing investors such as Sassoon Investment Corp, Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, Mizuho Leasing, Silverhorn; notable new investment from Israel’s OurCrowd.
Genesis’ US$90m Fund I launched in 2019 financed 25 companies across Southeast Asia including unicorns Matterport & Akulaku.

Singapore, 25 August 2022 – Following the success of its debut US$90 million fund in 2019, Genesis Alternative Ventures has launched its second venture debt fund to raise US$150 million to finance start-ups across Southeast Asia. Almost half the fund was raised at first close earlier this month.

In a strong show of support, 80% of Fund II’s first close commitments came from existing Genesis’ Limited Partners (LPs) such as Sassoon Investment Corp, Aozora Bank, Korea Development Bank, Mizuho Leasing, Silverhorn, family offices, charitable trusts, fund of funds and corporate investors. Among new investors is OurCrowd, the Israel-based online global venture investing platform.

Dr Jeremy Loh, Genesis’ Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said: “We are grateful to our investors for their continued support.

Genesis Fund II further strengthens our ability to provide financing for promising start-ups that are catalysts for economic growth in the region.”

Genesis extends debt to revenue-generating, high-growth companies that are backed by venture capital funds. These start-ups typically do not qualify for regular bank loans because they lack collateral, or have not yet reached profitability, and/or their founders are wary of taking on too much venture capital for fear of diluting their ownership.

The venture debt firm founded by Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Martin Tang in 2019, will continue to focus on Southeast Asia’s early and mid-stage high growth technology start-ups (Series B to pre-IPO). Dr Loh said Fund II already has a US$60 million deal pipeline in place.

He added: “Southeast Asia remains a magnet for investors attracted by the region’s growth potential, talent availability, high population and reasonable labour costs. In particular, Singapore has strengthened its position as a hub for innovative start-ups in the region.

“While the pace of investing may have slowed due to economic headwinds, interest in Southeast Asia technology companies remains strong. Given the record amount raised by venture capital funds in the last year, there’s a lot of dry powder for start-ups with strong fundamentals.

“Genesis will continue to finance first-class entrepreneurs who are building high-growth companies built on sustainable business models.”

Impact & ESG forms backbone of Fund I portfolio

Genesis Fund I raised an oversubscribed US$90 million and has financed 25 companies from Series A to pre-IPO in sectors such as logistics-tech, fintech, agritech, cybersecurity, and food-tech operating in Southeast Asia. It counts two unicorns among its portfolio companies namely Matterport, a leading global spatial data platform company, and Akulaku, a banking and digital finance platform in Southeast Asia.

Genesis selectively finances companies with meaningful impact objectives and works closely with entrepreneurs to identify and introduce important ESG principles within portfolio companies. Genesis has channelled nearly half of its capital from its debut fund into start-ups with meaningful impact objectives that are aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Close to 80% of its portfolio companies have in place formal ESG policies and procedures.

In a joint report last year, Genesis and PwC Singapore noted that venture debt is fast emerging in Southeast Asia as an alternative and complementary source of financing for high-growth tech companies that traditionally only raised equity as a source of capital. The report was presented at last year’s Genesis Forum featuring Tan Sri Mohamed Nazir bin Abdul Razak, past Chairman, CIMB Group, who delivered the keynote address “Profit with purpose, my personal journey to here.”

Victor Sassoon, Chairman, Sassoon Investment Corporation: “We are delighted to continue backing the Genesis team in their mission to provide less-dilutive funding to entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia. We are firm believers that venture debt will play an important role for start-up founders who are confident of their business growth and recognise the long-term value in complementary financing for working capital and other needs.”

Shin Kato, Head of Asia Investment Group, Aozora Bank: “The Southeast Asian and the Japanese venture ecosystems have long been underserved by credit providers. Genesis and Aozora Bank are both tackling this issue in their respective markets, and we are happy to continue our strategic partnership with Genesis to provide non-dilutive capital to innovative and impactful companies through their second fund while exchanging know-how and market insights on Japan and Southeast Asia.”

Jon Medved, CEO, OurCrowd: “We are delighted to be investors in Genesis Fund II. This fund has a tremendous management team whom we have known for years, leading co-investors, superb performance to date, and a brilliant future in bringing the important asset class of venture debt to the fast-growing Southeast Asia market. When we add the power of our global OurCrowd community to Genesis’ already great story, we are confident that this is about to get only better.”

About Genesis Alternative Ventures

Genesis Alternative Ventures is Southeast Asia’s leading private lender to venture and growth stage companies funded by tier-one VCs. Genesis is founded by a team of venture lending pioneers who have backed some of Southeast Asia’s best loved companies. Armed with a strong reputation among entrepreneurs and investors, Genesis is a trusted partner in empowering corporate growth while minimising shareholders’ equity dilution. Genesis was founded by Ben J Benjamin, Dr Jeremy Loh and Martin Tang in 2019.

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Catherine Ong Associates

Catherine Ong

Mobile: (65) 9697 0007

Email: cath@catherineong.com

Joel Ng

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Email: joel@catherineong.com

We get it. Running a startup is a crazy roller coaster ride. That is why it is important to find and bring the right VC partners on board with you. You will probably meet many before deciding on a core team. And it all starts with a convincing pitch that is engaging, clear and concise.

When I googled “how to pitch my startup”, I got more than 42 million hits. I am sure most of the advice offered is sound, if a little generic.

Having worked in the startup ecosystem in both Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia, I have noticed that there is a difference in the way founders here approach their pitch. I have noticed that Southeast Asian entrepreneurs tend to be more conservative in their pitch approach and more reluctant to talk about their achievements (and I include myself in this category). There are many cultural reasons for this but such reticence does not serve startup founders well, especially when making their pitches.

Over the years, my team at Genesis and I have attended multiple startup pitch sessions and have given my share of feedback and useful tips to help founders in Southeast Asia sharpen their pitch. Here’s a quick summary of those feedback:

Be clear about your ask

It is perfectly fine to be upfront about what you are looking for – be it mentorship advice or an investment. Many founders feel shy about talking about money so early in a discussion but trust me, it is helpful for the VC to know your objective from the start.

For instance, if you are looking for funding, you can start by saying, “Thank you for your time today. I am looking for $6m funding for a 10% share of my agri-tech company.”

Or, if you are looking for strategic partnerships, “Thank you for your time today. I am looking for partners in the agri-tech and/or logistics space who can add value to my business.” It is also reasonable to seek introductions to business contacts or possible advisors.

Be proud of your mission and credentials

Once I sat in on a pitch from an edutech company and it was only after 5 or 6 slides that she revealed that she is a geneticist. Immediately that became interesting to me. What is the connection between genetics and education?

Most founders tend to have business, finance or engineering backgrounds. So when someone with academic achievements and industry experience turns up to share why they are on this mission, it certainly catches the attention of an investor.

Likewise, for your mission. Whether you are solving a payment problem or moving 1 ton of ugly food per day, if you are not excited about your mission, no one else will be.

So do speak with positive energy and conviction. I know this is not natural for many of us in Southeast Asia but it is important to “infect” the VC with your enthusiasm.

Be humble when receiving feedback

This sounds contradictory to #2 but it makes sense. The VC industry is a small one, particularly in our region. One of the first questions that VCs ask themselves is “can I work with this entrepreneur over the next 3-4 years and help build this business?”

“VCs invest in people, not ideas or technology.” Most investors are placing a bet on the founder’s ability to successfully handle the multiple challenges of growing a startup. And founders who are unable to handle a couple of tough questions in a pitch are less likely to raise money from investors.

So treat the feedback as a gift. An hour that a VC set aside to listen to your pitch may not end up in an investment. But the feedback could bring fresh perspectives, new ideas and insights for your business or even how to improve your pitch.

Be concise with your elevator speech

It is always good to be prepared to talk about your startup concisely. You’ll never know when you’ll meet a potential investor.

We suggest an elevator speech along these lines:

Think BIG: What is the end goal (e.g. save 10 tons of ugly food per day)?
Start SMALL: What are the low hanging fruits that you are plucking today?
Move FAST: How are you going to scale?

Starting with your Big Idea allows you to plant a seed into the investor’s mind. And if you get interrupted and don’t get to the other two parts of your elevator speech, at least you’ve communicated your mission. This leads me to the final point.

Be jargon free

Most VCs are finance- or economics-trained. A few of us are engineers by training. Even fewer of us were medical professionals.

While we may have picked up terms like “NFT”, “Metaverse” or “DAO”, it helps if you use layman terms in your pitch. Try pitching to your family or friends first; if they can understand what your business is about, the likelihood of an investor understanding it would be higher.

For an idea of a jargon-free pitch deck, do take a look at AirBnB’s early pitch deck.

Last but not least ….

The tech and venture market will have its up and down cycles. Whatever the climate, there will always be venture investors looking for the next unicorn or decacorn. When you get an hour of time with a VC or a partner, it is more important to be ready with your pitch. And be prepared to evolve that pitch deck. You will be fascinated when you see the 40th version compared to your first deck.

We wish you much success and hope that these tips are useful in helping you elevate your pitch and raising the next round of funds.

(A version of this article first appeared on LinkedIn on 21 July 2022.)

Tech has been through a rocky patch so far this year, what with the gyrations of the stock market, delayed IPOs, depressed valuations, renegotiated term sheets, and layoffs. How does this align with what we’re seeing on the ground in the tech and venture ecosystem in Southeast Asia?

Our observations in the first half of the year are that investors continued to bankroll their fundraising activities and pressed on with new and follow-on investments into Southeast Asian startups despite current market conditions. Surprisingly, as at the date of this report, the pace of investments coupled with ever-growing deal sizes suggest an inverse correlation to the market correction.

For example, three Genesis portfolio companies announced strong follow-on Series C rounds in the first half of 2022, registering between a 1.78x to 2.92x increase in their enterprise value. In April, Sequoia-backed Trusting Social, an impact-driven Fintech focused on creating unique, personalised financial credit scores for the unbanked and underbanked individuals, announced its initial close of $65 million led by Vietnam’s consumer-focused conglomerate Masan Group.

A month later, Believe, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) startup specialising in consumer beauty products and backed by Accel India, raised a $55 million Series C financing led by Venturi Partners. In June, Deliveree closed its $70 million Series C led by Gobi Partners and SPIL Ventures (the CVC arm of Salam Pacific Indonesia Lines). Deliveree has been focused on creating a dynamic marketplace for the trucking industry across Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines, matching independent truck drivers and customers with cargo.

And this was on the back of various other deals announced publicly. Indonesia’s Fintech Flip raised $100 million Series B (Tencent, Block, Insight); eFishery $100 million Series C (Temasek, Softbank, Sequoia);, Bibit $80 million (GIC); Astro $60 million Series B (Accel, Tiger Global); Singapore’s ShopBack $80 million Series C (Asia Partners); BioFourmis $300 million Series D achieving unicorn status (General Atlantic); Neobank Stashfin $270 million equity/debt Series C (Uncorrelated Ventures); Neuron Mobility $43 million Series B (GSR Ventures, Square Peg); Multiplier $60 million Series B (Tiger Global, Sequoia); Thailand’s Fresket Series B $23 million (PTT Oil, Openspace) and many more.

We also observed a continuation of Seed and Series A funding closes for startups across Southeast Asia. For example, Eratani, an Indonesia-based agritech startup raised a $1.6 million Seed round while Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures co-invested $7.5 million into Ilectra Motor Group, a 2-wheeler EV targeting the Indonesian market.

A Return to Profitability With Leaner Companies

Growth, especially growth at all costs, requires significant capital to take market share now and worry about profitability later. More often than not, customers and revenue acquired in such fashion are far from ideal, leading to higher churn rates, lower retention rates, and driving up costs even further. Raising too much capital at early stages can result in undisciplined spending leading to layoffs and other painful reactions when the burn rate skyrockets and future funding becomes scarce.

It is sobering to see news on startup layoffs across US and Asia including Southeast Asia (here are some dedicated websites tracking these statistics) and casualties such as Kaodim, an 8-year-old startup in Malaysia, which means “take care of it”, that shuttered its services as Covid halted the home-services industry. Softbank Asia’s Propzy, which bagged a $25 million Series A in 2020, dissolved a major part ofits business and reportedly laid off 50% of its employees.

On the flipside, good founders understand the value of a long-term mindset and the importance of building startups with the right values and structure so they can grow into lasting companies. The “exuberant climate” for start-ups has turned and investors are demanding to see financial metrics that are in line with the company’s stage of development. Therefore, it is prudent for start-up leaders to make adjustments in order to enhance operational efficiency and to focus funding resources to achieve important key performance indicators so as to reach the next funding round.

And there are certainly opportunities for resilient founders and companies in a market correction. As with prior downturns, we believe there is a correlation between economic cycles and the formation of category-defining companies. Companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Square, WhatsApp, MailChimp, and Adobe were all founded during recessionary periods. Moreover, today’s founders have an arsenal of tools ready for them to launch their disruptive companies in a cloud-based world with less capital required for growth and the ability to operate with no hard assets. And venture capitalists are still hunting for startups that could well become tomorrow’s category-defining companies.

A great example is Deliveree. Genesis visited Deliveree at its South Jakarta office in June to catch-up with Tom Kim, Deliveree’s Chief Executive. Tom was wrapping up Deliveree’s Series C fund raise and shared how Deliveree had been keeping a tight rein on hiring and marketing expenses which is why the company was able to garner an industry-leading gross margin in the mid-teens, compared to better-funded competitors, some of whom have low, single-digit to negative gross margins.

Brisk Pace of M&A Transactions

A “buyer’s market” has emerged as deep-pocketed acquirers pick up targets of good value. Acquiring targets in order to bulk up seems to be more attractive as the IPO window remains closed, keeping exit valuations depressed.

For example, India’s Pine Labs acquired Southeast Asian startup Fave for up to $45 million. Singapore’s Funding Societies announced it is acquiring digital payment provider Cardup to expand its payments offering.

In fact, Genesis has been receiving requests from founders who want to strengthen their balance sheet with venture debt for the sole purpose of acquisitions – a smart way to raise lower dilutive capital and add breadth and depth to their business.

We expect the pace of M&As to gather further in coming quarters given the conversations we have been having with founders who want to leverage on venture debt to buy up smaller competitors.

Abundant Dry Powder Globally For Venture Capital Investments

Preqin estimates there is more than $497 billion of global venture capital dry powder as at May 2022 (dry powder being the amount of capital that has been committed to funds minus the amount that has been called by general partners for investments).

Quarterly funding levels in 2022 remain above quarterly funding levels in 2020 and prior, according to CB Insights (July 2022) with $108.5 billion raised across 7,651 deals. This is despite the fact that quarterly funding has slowed in 2022 amidst tightening liquidity and a global meltdown in technology stocks.

US VC fundraising tops $120 billion for the second consecutive year, according to Pitchbook. A strong showing from established managers in the first half of the year has pushed capital raised to a record pace. These managers have closed 203 funds worth $94.7 billion through the first six months of the year. Already, 30 funds have closed on at least $1 billion in commitments, eight more than the previous full-year high of 22 recorded last year. While this activity is most likely a continuation of momentum from 2021, it’s still an encouraging sign around the level of capital availability through the uncertainty that the next few years may bring.

In Southeast Asia, fund investors have increased allocations to the Southeast Asia venture corridor. Southeast Asia and India-focused VC funds have raised $3.1 billion in the first 5 months of 2022, eclipsing the $3.5 billion these funds raised in all of 2021, according to a Nikkei Asia report in May 2022.

Established Southeast Asia players like Sequoia, Accel, Jungle and Mass Mutual have raised larger, multi-stage funds. Sequoia raised $2.85 billion, which includes its first dedicated fund for Southeast Asia with a pool of $850 million. And despite the shaky short-term outlook in tech, Sequoia remains optimistic about Southeast Asia’s start-ups, as do new entrants White Star, Antler, and Altara. From our conversations within our network of General Partners (GPs), it is evident that companies that can demonstrate financial discipline and prioritise healthy topline growth with manageable bottom-line expenses will be rewarded in this investment climate.

While GPs believe that the pace of investment may slow compared to 2021, this does not also mean that investing into new deals will come to a halt; rather the deal selection and diligence process will take longer as GPs will now insist on observing certain metrics and may choose to sit on the sidelines while monitoring progress.

On the topic of valuation, we also notice that GPs have already lowered their WTP (willingness to pay) and this is a common theme across funds globally. Seed and pre-A startups are likely most impacted and may see as much as 50 – 75% reduction in valuation as investors prefer not to take very early-stage risk. Series B, C and D startups remain attractive for GPs to continue investing in given their life-cycle and more reasonable enterprise values, and as highlighted above, there remains a barrage of early growth startups that have raised $50-200 million in a single round of financing with little to no discount to valuations. It also appears that funding has shifted away from late-stage pre-IPO mega deals which has resulted in the declining minting of new unicorns into the tech sector (which mirrors the global phenomenon).

Summary

While we recognise this will be a tough period for investors and companies alike, we equally believe that this will be a rewarding time for investors and GPs who have stuck to their investment thesis of backing mission-driven founders who are building sustainable businesses and aiming for market leadership positions.

The medium to long-term outlook of venture capital investing will improve as valuations and investment pacing return to more sustainable levels. And not forgetting the abundant VC dry powder waiting to pounce on attractive deals in the shorter term.

All of this should also lead to more robust dealflow for venture lenders like Genesis. Investors are now more focused on more sustainable companies with a path to profitability, healthy gross margins, lower burn, more reasonable valuation ascents etc. These are the very companies that Genesis has always invested in. In fact, in the last 2 quarters, Genesis reviewed more than $100 million of deals, and since inception, our total dealflow has crossed the $1 billion mark, which is a significant milestone.

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