Timothy Koo

As we move towards a greener future, the demand for quick charging electric vehicles is on the rise. However, can our power grids keep up? In a recent article for e27 (Optimatic), I raised an important concern about the power requirements of EV chargers. Did you know that 7000 of the 480kW Ultrafast EV chargers will require the same power as the entire Singapore residential household? It's time to ask ourselves, can we truly afford to have so many? Let's continue to push for sustainability, but let's also ensure that we're not sacrificing too much in the process. #sustainability #evcharging

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As a venture capitalist, TRIVE's focus is on exits for my SouthEast Asian based portfolios, and IPOs are one of the main avenues to achieve an exit and a return on my investments. 5 of our startups are considering their IPO plans in the coming 3 years. After advisory from the M&A advisors and internal consideration, the NASDAQ is the choice for 4 of 5 of them. Only one decided on the local SGX as it is on a more traditional path. Nevermind if these startups are primarily operating in SEA and naturally should find familiarity with SGX to list. Unfortunately, they see better valuations, liquidity and brand recognition by listing on the NASDAQ. It has been a long-time complex issue to energize the SGX and to ask our SEA startups to call it home. It is a pity because Singapore is the prime location for private equity and venture capital fundraise for startups in the region. But SGX barely sees any of our SEA unicorns listed on it. I for one, am a believer of a regional bourse to support the aspirations of the startups. And I hope more deeper conversations with the Singapore government and our relevant associations will one day see the SGX building that vision. Thanks to See Kit Tang for a very insightful long-form article and allowing me to be a part of it to bring my thoughts to it. #venturecapital #sgx #ipo https://lnkd.in/g_kzvyGa

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EXCERPTS: “The speedy advancement of new energy is crucial to fulfill Asia’s massive demand and reduce emissions,” said Zhou Xiaochuan, noting the region already contributes to half of global carbon emissions and its electricity consumption may also reach that proportion by 2025. He also called for efforts on accelerating the development of carbon markets, such as strengthening standards, measurement and accounting, information disclosure, as well as intermarket connections. Regional development banks, such as the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, should also collaborate in contributing to the region’s energy transition. COMMENTS: nice to see Zhou Xiaochuan out there on these issues, a true reformist. While a bit of a stretch, if we could figure out some form China-RoW offset mechanism (Hong Kong would be ideal), would be great.

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BREAKING News The renewal of the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS) Project, which aims to supply up to 100 MW of electricity from Laos to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia, is currently stalled due to disagreements over transmission terms. Background The Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore (LTMS) Project to supply up to 100 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Laos via Thailand and neighbouring Malaysia was signed in 2022 The deal expired on June 22, 2024. - Keppel Ltd and Electricite du Laos signed a renewal on June 2024. - Singapore has yet to sign deals with Thailand and Malaysia due to disagreements over the quantity of power to be purchased. What's next? Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have until Dec. 31 to sign transmission agreements. Many naysayers said that the Asean power grid will not come to fruition but I was always optimistic. This project came along and I thought that this iconic project would definitely be something that pushes the needle in the right direction as it involves 4 different countries in its transmission path. But now, it is highly uncertain of what will actually transpire. Profits, cost and minimum quantities of energy need to be declared and agreed upon for this to be successful. There needs a win for all to make this alliance work #renewableenergy

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Got to publish an article with e27 (Optimatic). I wrote this many years ago and updated it. This is an article on why introductions should not be so flippant in Asia. In recent days, I have been travelling across the SEA region connecting with many new business relationships. It is natural for me to direct them to TRIVE's own startups, because I trust my CEOs to handle my relationships with utmost respect. Do have a read to better understand how relationships should be handled in Asia. #businessrelationships

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Great insight into commercialization.

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Great to chat with the Straits Times Press Singapore about the Mandiri Investible Global Climate Tech Fund. The USD150M Fund, launched from our Singapore office in partnership with the extraordinary team at PT. Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), is the second Climate Tech Fund launched by Investible and will invest in emerging climate tech companies solving for net zero with a global mandate and a SE Asia focus. https://lnkd.in/gaKdjEuB Here at Investible, we believe that bridging capital and innovation across Australia / NZ through SE Asia and globally will identify the best emerging businesses solving the biggest problems. Accessing the right expertise and deep capital pools across multiple geographies to help portfolio companies successfully scale is the key to delivering outsize investor returns in the process. If we can solve for net zero in SE Asia, we will make a large impact in solving for net zero globally. If you'd like to learn more about the Fund and our approach, please reach out to our Singapore and Sydney-based team for a chat Dr Darian McBain Christine Amour-Levar Dr Bill Foo Emilie Sydney-Smith Sam Gibson Charlie Ill Khairu Rejal Ben Lindsay Marie Garcia Trixie Chang #venturecapital #climatetech

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After a 2 day whirlwind trip to Jakarta, Indonesia, my first in over a decade and after meeting with our portfolio co Brick and Gavin🏗️ Tan and speaking with multiple ecosystem participants East Ventures Trihill Capital Arya Setiadharma Valerianus Ian Sulaiman (thank you for sparing the time), I feel positive on Indonesia over the medium to long term horizon - Indonesia over the last decade or so has significantly increased its GDP/Capita from ~$3,000 to the current ~$4,700, an amazing achievement! - Continues to promise to grow at ~5-6% over the next few years, which will not be easy but looks realistic, making it one of the fastest growing major economies -OJK is a strong and stable regulator and what we hear is they are also fair and fairly transparent - Despite the higher GDP/Capital, the contradiction is that the financial penetration continues to be low, for instance Mortgage Loans/GDP% is low at ~4% while India is at 11% and USA closer to 50% - Indicates substation potential for digitization and financial services penetration and truly pushing the envelope on #fintech - Fintech funding winter is real and we could feel the pain of the founders. Kudos to Flourish Ventures portfolio company Qoala and Harshet Lunani on the latest funding round, it clearly is seen as a major signal in the region on Indonesia's long term potential and why investors should continue to invest - Multiple folks asked us "when will investors come back to invest in Indonesia", while I do not know the answer to that question, what I do know is that we at Flourish Ventures are very positive on the long term prospects and with our permanent capital base, we are keen to continue to invest! If you are a fintech founder, do reach out ravi at flourishventures dot com with Tilman Ehrbeck Harsh Gupta

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As noted in PEI's #infrastructure investor series in #seoul/ #tokyo, Japan's Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), a ~USD 70 billion entity recently created by the Japanese government as a master public university endowment (public #endowments in Japan have been quite limited on investment capabilities and capital due to limited inbound contributions) will be making more investments in funds/co-investments with fund manager relationships as they continue to build the team and reduce reliance on advisors. Initially heavily dependent upon asset #consultants / #gatekeepers, this group is on pace to becoming a highly sophisticated institutional investor in Japan. Definitely a group to track. Separately, on the endowment topic in Japan, private universities such as Keio University, Waseda University, Tokyo University of Science, Sophia University, Ritsumeikan University, Meiji University, International Christian University all have capabilities (varying degrees of sophistication and capital) to invest in alternatives, often, but not always, using international and local gatekeepers / consultants. Of the nearly 800 public and private universities, I have tracked 15-20, mostly private, universities that invest in alternative assets and private markets. For the public university endowments, the capital is mostly concentrated with Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). #japanesemarket #japan #asiapacific #universities #capitalmarkets #privatemarkets #alternativeassets #infrastructure

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It is a perennial chicken-and-egg issue - Do we bring in the investors or the IPOs first to energize the SGX? Second Minister of Finance, Chee Hong Tat, provides the solution that the government will support local based companies to IPO on the SGX. I have no doubt of the intentions of the government, but it speaks of a different scene on the ground. For the startup scene, I have a number of TRIVE's companies planning IPOs for exits in the coming years. And we spoke to a variety of M&A advisors for options of the SGX, HKSE and Nasdaq. It boils down to the same consideration - liquidity, valuation, ease of international investors buying into the stock and brand association. The portfolio companies will drop the consideration of the SGX and usually head for the Nasdaq listing, despite whatever grants, support that the government might provide. It is with good intentions of SVCA and Parliament to offer solutions to revitalize SGX. I for one, am a believer that we need a regional stock exchange that serves the upcoming SEA unicorns. Let's press on to develop deeper conversations.

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BREAKING NEWS — Vietnam: The long-awaited mechanism for corporate power purchase agreements has now been formally issued! New Regulation: - The Vietnamese government has introduced a decree enabling the direct sale of rooftop solar power and other renewable energy sources, bypassing the state utility, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). 🔌 Mechanism: - The DPPA mechanism facilitates direct transactions between renewable energy producers and large electricity consumers. - Two pathways are outlined: via private transmission lines and the national grid. Private Transmission Lines: - Eligible renewable energy sources include solar, wind, small hydro, biomass, geothermal, wave, tidal, marine current energy, and rooftop solar systems. - Projects must be licensed or exempt under specific regulations. National Grid: - For direct sales through the national grid, projects must have a capacity above 10 MW. - The decree specifies transactions via the spot market and sales through EVN, with market prices determined by wholesale market dynamics. Purchaser Requirements: - Organizations and individuals using power for production at 22 kV or higher and consuming at least 200,000 kWh per month can participate. - This threshold is lower than the previous draft, which required a minimum of 500,000 kWh. Stoked to see such progress! Credits to Phu Nguyen for sharing this

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#TikTok ban Today looked like an unusually busy Saturday on the US Congress. Even my representative (NY-16) just sent out an email explaining how he voted on #Ukraine. #Israel, & #Taiwan foreign policy topics, and he was also one of 58 reps who voted against banning Tiktok (vs. 360 those voting in favor). If you have teenage children like I do, we would all agree how much we as parents hate TikTok given the massive disruptive power the app has had on quality family times together. For several years, we used to watch #PBS #NewsHour every night in our livingroom but have recently given up because my kids can't take their eyes off phones playing likes of TikTok. We now have trouble having the usual family conversations as a bipartisan PBS anchor debriefs today's worldwide events, because my children's attentions are sadly floated elsewhere. But perhaps it's because TikTok's short form videos are exceptionally good products. By observing binary decisions the user makes on multiple SHORTER contents, they built a better (and addictive) predictive power around your interests and hidden desires (telling from my own experience) quickly. From a technical perspective, it feels like a superior product than #Youtube, #Facebook, and other platforms who soon copied despite my universal hatred on them as a concerned suburban parent. When govt goes extreme length to ban an app within an ecosystem, I hope they have a sound reasoning behind. Multiple #OFAC sanctions by US Treasury typically carry such rationale and stood tests over time. But from a layman's perspective who has Chinese apps (Didi & Baidu Map) already installed, I scratch my head why TikTok had to be the center of this debate. Can they just not fathom that TikTok (vs. #Douyin in mainland) data servers can truly be located outside #CCP jurisdictions? I know children will instead open up Youtube Shorts anyway, so my problem stays. Perhaps the point of the legislative hearings has long been theatrical for domestic audiences' TV screens (including PBS NewsHour), but it was painful to watch Senator "Cotton" (R, Arkansas) ask TikTok's #Singaporean CEO multiple times whether he's a member of CCP or a Chinese national. CEO Chew supposedly is worth >$200mm, but I still felt bad for the man. Do you know how often I get asked if I am Chinese, and how annoying it is having to explain that not all Asians are Chinese!? It's not my fault they failed social studies class and never caught up after all. This line of grilling on the Hill reminded me of my favorite #Bloomberg oil industry chat rooms where mass participants point fingers at CCP, #IRGC, Putin, among others for all the misfortunes we have suffered. Yet they haven't heard #Sinopec, Reliance, or #SOMO. If they indeed represent average institutional investors we compete against, perhaps ACTIVE asset management should add far more value than academics give us credits for under the efficient market theory, especially in global/EM settings? Bring it on...

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【Temasek’s Bold $10 Billion Investment in India 🇮🇳】 -- A Strategic Move Amid China Slowdown In a move that underscores India’s growing significance on the global investment landscape, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, has announced plans to invest $10 billion in India over the next three years. 🇨🇳 This ambitious investment comes at a time when the performance of #Chinese markets has been lackluster, underscoring #India’s importance as one of Temasek’s top two preferred markets globally, alongside the #US. 🇸🇬 Looking at Temasek's #trackrecord, it's impressive to note that they have already deployed around $37 billion in India over the past two decades.. 💡As of 2023, India now makes up 7% of Temasek’s global portfolio by underlying assets, up from 4% in 2020. In 2023 alone, they invested a record $3 billion in the country. What stands out to me is their perspective on India's market dynamics: "India has always commanded a premium due to its growth potential. By identifying and investing in the right businesses, consistently achieved returns that justify the higher valuations" "The capital markets and deal sizes in India have been steadily increasing, thanks to the expanding and maturing financial markets. The current high valuations are justified by the potential for above-average returns," Temasek’s #InvestmentStrategy in India will focus on several key areas, including technology, financial services, healthcare, and consumer goods. 🌡️ For instance, Temasek’s portfolio, Sheares Healthcare Group, healthcare investor, recently invested almost $2 billion in Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, Indian leading muli speciality hospital operator, with total stake of 59% (new 41%) at $4.9 billion valuation. This valuation is justified by Manipal’s strong financial performance, including 1) a revenue of around $488 million, 2) an EBITDA margin of 24% for FY 2023, 3) several millions patient as sticky customers and 4) potential for free cash flow generation. Later, they sold 8% stake to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala while holding majority shares. Very successful story and foreseen investment. I reckon their increasing investment in India reaffirms the country's status as a pivotal destination for global investors. As someone keenly observing these developments, it's clear that India's market offers tremendous opportunities, and Temasek’s commitment only strengthens this outlook. Ravi Lambah Alex Lin #startup #Singapore #Investment

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I had an interesting chat with Yuke Xie from the South China Morning Post SCMP recently on the evolving investment strategies of Middle Eastern institutions and family offices.    Traditionally centered on the US and Europe, these investors and institutions are now turning their attention to the dynamic economies of #SoutheastAsia.    Looking forward, I foresee Southeast Asia maturing significantly as an investment hub, driven by its vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and fast-growing middle class. I believe Southeast Asia could well become a third pillar of international diversification for Middle Eastern investment, and #healthcare could potentially be a focal point.    Exciting times lie ahead for our SEA team of investment professional & operators, and we are currently raising a Southeast Asia-focused healthcare growth capital fund to capitalize on this growth.   Read more about it in the following link:

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Interested to know more about Vietnam's PPA scheme? Giles Cooper and team have produced a summary detailing the key points of the scheme including the payment schemes

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