Funding & Business
From Square to Flipkart, Singapore Sovereign Wealth Funds Increase Private Tech Financing Activity

Hedge funds and mutual funds ranging from Tiger Global Management to T. Rowe Price have been frequent participants in mega-financing rounds and billion-dollar valuations this year. Now, sovereign wealth funds are also jumping into the fray.
According to CB Insights data, Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds – Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and Temasek Holdings – are on pace for an annual deal high in 2014 for private transactions.
Most notably, GIC recently led a $150M investment into closely-watched mobile payments startup Square, bumping up its valuation to $6B. But Square isn’t the only high-profile deal the Singapore SWFs have participated in this year. The two Singapore SWFs also participated in landmark deals to Indian eCommerce giants – Flipkart and Snapdeal. GIC partipated in Flipkart’s $1B financing in July at a valuation of $7B, while Temasek participated Snapdeal’s $100M round in May. Separately, Temasek also led a $50M deal into Internet of Things platform Jasper Technologies in April at a valuation of $1B.
The chart below highlights aggregate disclosed tech investment/M&A transactions by the two SWFs since 2010. Of note, 2014 YTD has already seen 3x more private tech deals than 2013. Note: deals by wholly owned Temasek subsidiaries Vertex Venture Holdings and Pavilion Capital were included in the data.
Given the influx and notable deals this year, will we see more VC-backed U.S. startups look to sovereign wealth funds for funding? Weigh in below. If you need to track SWF deal activity, use the CB Insights private company financing database. Create a free account below.
Photo Credit: Terence S. Jones
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