Two INSEAD alumni have started a new investment firm called InseadAlum Ventures in Singapore with a capital of nearly $700,000 to invest in start-ups founded by ex-students of the international business school.
InseadAlum Ventures will invest between $35,000 and $140,000 in each start-up and will help develop it to a point where it can raise further seed or Series A funding, a media statement said.
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The firm is founded by Deepak Shahdadpuri, managing director of Singapore-based venture capital firm DSG Consumer Partners, and Will Klippgen, co-founder of investment firm Cocoon Capital. The fund announced its first investment in UK-based smart thermostat start-up Switchee Ltd where it participated in a $580,000 seed round of funding.
“We are extremely pleased to become part of the InseadAlum Ventures portfolio. We look forward to working with Will and Deepak, and to leveraging their extensive expertise and that of the INSEAD community as we grow Switchee further,” said Switchee’s managing director and an INSEAD graduate, Adam Fudakowski.
The investor base of InseadAlum includes successful alumni entrepreneurs like Jani Rautiainen, co-founder of PropertyGuru, South-east Asia’s largest property portal; and Aloke Bajpai, principal founder of India’s largest online travel search portal iXiGO.com.
Source: Former INSEAD students set up fund to invest in alumni start-ups – Livemint
