NUS Alumni Ventures Welcomes You!
12 November
From leading an entrepreneurship society to banding together notable NUS Alumni investors, NUS Alumni Ventures (NAV) is determined to make an impact in the Southeast Asia start-up ecosystem by tapping the rich NUS Alumni network.
NAV was founded in June 2020 by a group of alumni with entrepreneurship background in the NUS Entrepreneurship Society (NES). The group identified a gap in the early-stage start up ecosystem, where budding entrepreneurs lacked funding, resources and found difficulty in tapping the rich NUS alumni network. Inspired by Stanford University’s entrepreneurship, NAV was thus born as the first alumni-led angel investment network in Southeast Asia, with the founding batch of 56 members. Despite the challenges faced due to the ongoing pandemic, NAV members adapted quickly under the strategic management of the executive committee, led by President Mr Chen Pinzhang (Engineering ‘21), who was also former President of NES. Within the span of a year, NAV attracted and built a diverse connected network of over 80 NUS Alumni angel investors and partners from scratch to support the organisation’s mission and vision.
Having experienced the trials and tribulations of building start-ups from scratch, some founders have banded together to become venture capitalists or investors in funds and have contributed back to the angel investment ecosystem. NAV has thus created a close-knit network where NUS Alumni angel investors, mentors, entrepreneurs and the like-minded can share their insights and learn from one another to scale their businesses.
To date, NAV has held five Demo Day runs of their flagship Direct Investment Programme (DIP), of which each round shortlisted at least seven carefully selected start-ups that pitched to NAV’s network of angel investors. These start-ups were specifically sourced and analysed from NAV’s team of trained student analysts who undergone rigorous training sessions by experienced mentors. As a result, three start-ups successfully obtained funding. More information on the past DIP events could be found via nav.org.sg/blog.
NUS Alumni Ventures aims to pull together a community of NUS Alumni Angel investors and entrepreneurs that will allow for investments ranging from pre-seed to pre-series A investments. If you are an early-stage start-up looking to raise funds from our angel investors or if you’re an NUS Alumni interested in mentoring or funding start-ups, the NAV team is happy to connect with you! Please reach out to nusangelventures@gmail.com or send the group a Linkedin message.
Submitted by Mr Chen Pinzhang (Engineering ’21).