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- #34 GKC | 🐟 More eFishery Execs Hooked in Fraud Net! 🎣
#34 GKC | 🐟 More eFishery Execs Hooked in Fraud Net! 🎣
eFishery Scandal Deepens, Investors Love SMEs More Now, elev8.vc Closed A $30M Fund
Nelson Ng
February 03, 2025 • Est. Reading Time: 9 minutes
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Happy Monday! 👋
To all who’re celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year! Let’s sssslay the year 🐍🐍🐍
This week, we’ve some GOOD stuff on:
🐟 More eFishery Senior Execs “Actively Involved” In Fraud
💸 Yay, SMEs! More Move Into SMEs Instead Of Startups
🔬 SG-based elev8.vc Closes $30m Fund To Support Deeptech Startups
📰 GOOD News
1/ More eFishery Senior Execs “Actively Involved” In Fraud
A draft audit report on eFishery surfaced last week, revealed more troubling details, identifying several other senior executives as “implicated employees” in the alleged fraud.
Prepared by FTI Consulting, the report also lays out how some of the fraud was carried out, such as paying bonuses based on inflated financials, including US$1.3 million in fundraising bonuses.
Other incidents involved schemes designed to present the inflated financials to eFishery’s auditors.
We are crafting a deep dive on eFishery’s failure, stay tuned next week!
🔗 Source: Tech In Asia
2/ Yay, SMEs! More Move Into SMEs Instead Of Startups
Search funds, pioneered in 1984 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), have become a favourite among MBA graduates aspiring to become CEOs.
It is an investment vehicle where budding entrepreneurs raise capital to acquire and run an existing small business.
As of end-2023, they averaged a 4.5x return on investment and a 35.1% internal rate of return, according to the Stanford GSB 2024 Search Fund Study.
Search funds have gained momentum in Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore and Malaysia. Examples are Linghthaven, Mission Kay Capital, GenCap.
How about search funds for impact? Still an untapped model in Southeast Asia.
🔗 Source: Tech In Asia
3/ SG-based elev8.vc Closes $30m Fund To Support Deeptech Startups
Elev8.vc newest fund will support 20 to 30 deep tech startups in sectors such as artificial intelligence, med tech, robotics, and advanced manufacturing, with a vision to make Singapore a global hub for groundbreaking technological advancements.
The fund has already invested in a diverse portfolio of innovative companies, including Aevice, Auristone, CoNEX, Equatorial Space, Gush, KABAM Robotics, Moon Technologies, N&E Innovations, and Polybee, as well as two stealth-mode companies.
Key tech visionaries including YouTube founder Steve Chen, and Abhishek Gupta, founder of Singapore’s Circles.Life, as well as AppWorks, have shown their support for Elev8.vc’s mission.
Hint: If you’re building a deep tech startup, reach out to Jia Hong, the Head of Ignite at elev8.vc.
🔗 Source: elev8.vc
GOOD Key Takeaways:
It takes a whole village to craft a beautiful lie until it’s busted, of course!
Back to business fundamentals. More startups will follow this strategy.
Impact VCs in SEA with a niche focus still got it. Difficult fundraising situations for VCs in SEA, but good time for LPs to identify the best.
Other News:
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