iCentre – Angel Investment Workshop

The Angel Investment Workshop which was held at the i-Center yesterday afternoon offered a very interesting insight into the mechanisms and modalities involved in technology investing both from an investor and an investee perspective.

Professor Wong Poh Kam from NUS Entrepreneurship Center gave us some insight on angel investing trends and approaches in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries. He also spoke about a regional angel investor network called BANSEA or Business Angels Network South East Asia.

Dr Michael Lutz, co-inventor of the PC-Fax, which I remember making very full use of during the APEC2000 preparations for sending out faxes to all the APEC member economies, then shared his experiences with angel investing in the US through a network called The Tech Coast Angels.

I learnt the difference between venture capitalists and angel investors. The latter typically invest in companies that are at the very early stages of development, which means it is a very high risk investment. The amounts invested are generally quite small, ranging from B$250 to 750k divided between a few individual investors. The returns (if any, hehe!) can be expected between 5 to 10 years time. More info here.

The i-Center director, Kwok Leong took the opportunity to announce that the first batch of incubatees for the i-Center had been selected and they would be occupying the center very soon. Congratulations to the selected incubatees, and for those who weren’t selected, keep going! Try other avenues! Don’t give up!