Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia

Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA) is an angel investment network based in Singapore^[1] that provides information to potential investors about newly established businesses. The stated goal of BANSEA is to create business opportunities for angel investors, and aid in the development of profitable business networks.^[2][3]

Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia

Company type	Public Company Limited By Guarantee
Industry	Venture Capital
Founded	2001
Headquarters	Singapore
Area served	Southeast Asia
Key people	Koh Jiaway (Associate Director) Dr Michelle Kung (Ambassador) Dr Rex Yeap (Chair) Rebekah Woo (Vice Chair) Sam Tsui (Vice Chair)
Website	www.bansea.org

BANSEA's core activities include monthly investor meetings, where startups are invited to pitch to BANSEA members. BANSEA focuses on early-stage companies seeking investment ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000. It has two tiers of membership–chartered membership and ordinary membership–with membership qualification criteria.^[4]

History

BANSEA was established in 2001 by Dr. Poh Kam Wong, Professor and Director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre,^[5] and has been financially supported by SPRING Singapore since 2007. BANSEA maintains close relationships with the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre and the National Research Foundation,^[4] and is also an investment partner of Info-comm Investments.^[6] The SPRING Seeds program by SPRING Singapore was the result of consultation between the government and BANSEA leadership.^[4]

In 2008, BANSEA announced a strategic relationship with the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR).^[7] In 2009, BANSEA announced a strategic alliance with the Angel Association of New Zealand.^[8] In 2013, BANSEA signed a collaboration agreement with the European Trade Association for Business Angels (EBAN) to foster cross-border investment, dissemination of initiatives, exchange of best practices and a close collaboration for future projects.^[9]

In 2016, BANSEA launched the BANSEA One fund, pooling capital from angel investors to invest in startups.^[10] It is also a co-founding member of the ASEAN Angel Alliance (AAA) (now known as ASEAN Business Angel Alliance (ABAA)) and joined the Global Business Angels Network, which allows angel investors to expand their network around the world.^[11][12]

In 2017, BANSEA announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) to grow investment opportunities, growth and market access for startups and angel investors in Southeast Asia.^[13] In 2018, BANSEA inked an agreement with Platform E to nurture angel investors and startups,^[14] as well as launched the BANSEA Two fund, pooling capital from angel investors to invest in startups following the success of the BANSEA One fund.^{[citation needed]}

Investments

Startups that BANSEA and its members have invested in include Paktor, Bambu, Tokenize.exchange, Burpple, Carousell, 99.co, Carro, and Shopback.^[15][16]

See also

• Seed funding
• Series A funding

References

1. "Angel investor clubs are hot in the US, and now they're growing in Southeast Asia". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
2. "Investing in a start-up is exciting, but know the risks". TODAYonline. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
3. "How Should a New Startup in Singapore Find Funding?". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
4. Angels without borders : trends and policies shaping angel investment worldwide. Liu, Manhong Mannie. New Jersey. 2015-10-20. ISBN 9789814733816. OCLC 928387376.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
5. Karen., Wilson (2011). Financing high-growth firms : the role of angel investors. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Paris: OECD. ISBN 9789264118782. OCLC 769159876.
6. "Angel investing network BANSEA-IIPL enter into partnership, to co-invest in startups - DealStreetAsia". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
7. "Exploit Technologies and Bansea Sign MOU Under the Angel Investment Management (AIM) Initiative > Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)". www.a-star.edu.sg. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
8. "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
9. "EBAN signs collaboration agreement with BANSEA - EBAN - The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players". EBAN - The European Trade Association for Business Angels, Seed Funds and Early Stage Market Players. 2013-11-29. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
10. "This new old angel fund will invest in young Singapore startups". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
11. "New alliance aims to help angel investors collaborate across Southeast Asia". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
12. "GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP NETWORK 2016 IMPACT REPORT" (PDF). Retrieved 30 May 2018.
13. "Angel investor network BANSEA aims to boost Singapore's early-stage funding landscape". e27. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
14. Cheok, Jacquelyn. "It's talent, not ideas, that turns on new incubators in Singapore". The Business Times. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
15. Cheok, Jacquelyn. "Paktor snags US$10m funding; Infocomm Investments partners Bansea to fund seed-stage startups". The Business Times. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
16. "I finally understand what makes an angel investor tick". e27. Retrieved 2018-05-30.