The deep rooted universal problem faced by all deep technology focused start-ups is how to survive the funding gap in new technology development known as the “valley of death” which tends to appear at the point where a conceptual idea needs to be turned into a working prototype. The right support to help these companies navigate through it can mean all the difference between success and failure.

This leads us to one of the most important features of our fund known as the AIPO Venture Value Added Funding Escalator that provides various type of funding accessible at each designated stages, which is strategically designed to facilitate the process in overcoming the valley of death for our portfolio companies. The core of our funding escalator is the complementary relationship between government funding and business angels funding.

The matchmaking overview

In the preparation phase, the mentees are required to consider their future direction or goals they hope to accomplish through the process and sets expectations which will give them more control over the direction of their career. During this phase, the mentorship committee will help the mentee to understand the purpose, needs, benefits and outlook for the program, along with their respective roles and responsibilities. Concurrently, the mentors will also determine the basic tools and resources our candidates will need and will be provided with, such as the IP Tech co-working space and relevant consultation session for specific needs.

We have considerable experience in managing technology start-ups and their intellectual property strategies. The focus of our accelerator fund would be potential start-ups that strive to drive forward their product technology and aim to strategically exit at Venture Capital level when they are ready to develop their manufacturing technology. Intellectual property rights are therefore the key sources of business competitiveness for these deep technology focused start-ups, for instance, patent registrations for unique technological solutions, trademark registrations for goodwill associated with the venture, copyrights protection for creative contents generated by venture, etc, would be critical for these start-ups to create a unique selling proposition or differentiation in the marketplace that lead to sustainable competitive advantage.   

Our principals of General Partners have spent the last twenty years in understanding the needs of technology focused ventures in Malaysia. As a venture capital corporation with wide networks and access to a continuous deal-flow of promising high-growth, IP-rich, technology focused ventures, our management team is offered with attractive investment opportunities in both traditional industries as well as new emerging areas such as IoT, ICT, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, blockchain, Industries 4.0, and digital payments.

We have considerable experience in managing growth companies and their intellectual property strategies. In the process, we have developed an eco-system for deep technology start-ups, from angel investors, accountants, funders and government authorities involved in deep technology focused start-ups. We have also built associations with many other service providers, such as lawyers, recruiters, accountants, and consultants. Concurrently, we spend time with the research universities that continuously give us early visibility to new opportunities.

We are capable to identify, nurture, and harvest strong technology companies with superior management that can lead to excellent returns for our limited partners. Therefore, we plan to focus with our strengths, i.e. to invest in deep technology focused start-ups which have unique proprietary advantages or intellectual property rights in any abovementioned sectors that form part of their business activities.

We have extensive experience in assisting companies to achieve successful liquidity events— our key principals are themselves experts in multinational exit management who are experienced in identifying and preparing portfolio companies in emerging boards around the world for the listing activities—

1. the Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) market and the Access, Certainty, Efficiency (ACE) market in Malaysia;

2. the Singapore Exchange Catalist (SGX Catalist) market in Singapore;

3. the Taipei Exchange (TPEX) market in Taiwan; the Canadian Security Exchange (CSE) market in Canada;

4. the Over-the-counter (OTC) markets such as the OTCQX market, the OTCQB market, and the Pink Sheets;

and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) market.

We have historically sought to fully realize the value of companies by identifying the exit opportunity that maximizes the current value of the investment, as well as the growth potential still inherent in the enterprise. The timing and likelihood of an exit event will vary based upon a company’s specific performance in relation to its plan and upon financial market conditions. We seek a minimum of 10 times increase on our original funding of the companies and we target to assist our portfolio start-ups to exit at the venture capital level.