“His intention behind TNB Ventures was to build kickass start-ups & to be the companion of choice to both start-ups & corporates eyeing to innovate & build upon their entrepreneurial capacity”
GIVING WINGS TO ASPIRING START-UPS
Having proved himself as an entrepreneur realizing revenues of S$47 Million in 4 years of his previous venture and founding, managing and exiting funds worth over €300 million, Vicknesh is keenly engaged in Singapore’s start-up ecosystem and playing a significant role in the cultivation of aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups in Singapore
REALIZATION OF A DREAM
A graduate with a double degree from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and a postgraduate in Business Administration from UCLA Anderson and the National University of Singapore, Vicknesh R Pillay has been appointed a judge and a mentor for several entrepreneurship workshops, conferences and start-up competitions.
Coming up with a vision to establish a next-generation venture capital platform, TNB Ventures, Vicknesh along with his bunch of entrepreneur friends has already realized revenues of S$47 Million in 4 years of his previous venture as an established entrepreneur.
His intention behind establishing TNB Ventures was to build kickass start-ups and to be the companion of choice to both start-ups and corporates eyeing to innovate and build upon their entrepreneurial capacity.
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
Already established as an entrepreneur who founded, managed and exited an independent advisory firm, Vicknesh was conferred the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award at the coveted Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Awards 2013.
At present, Vicknesh works as a Board of Director at several companies advising and aiding them on their internal strategies and regional expansion plans.
According to Vicknesh, Singapore start-ups have transformed into next- generation solutions in the space of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things.
Well understanding that these days local start-ups are focusing to mark their presence in the international arena from an initial stage of their expansion, while many global start-ups are coming up in Singapore using it as a base to fulfil their ambitions, and the government and private sector players are making joint efforts to set up the building blocks to promote a vibrant tech start up ecosystem in Singapore, Vicknesh, as the Managing Partner of TNB Ventures, likes to make full utilization of his experience of fund management, investment and go-to-market experience to lead TNB’s flagship venture capital fund.
HELPING START-UPS IN THEIR INITIAL STEPS
TNB Ventures in a joint initiative with Aura Group, an Australia-based fund manager, has realized the first close of their joint TNB Aura Fund 1 managed by Vicknesh along with the Head of Asia for Aura Group. The limited partners of the fund include institutional investors and UNHW individuals who provide strategic value to TNB’s portfolio companies. The fund prefers B2B companies that can offer balancing value to each other even if it is across industry verticals.
The company’s investment thesis is focused on IoT/IIoT, Robotics, Big Data, Al, AR/VR and the fund offers go-to- market assistance and options making use of TNB’s widespread corporate partner network within the comprehensive idea of Smart City, which is very interactive to the frontier technologies objective of TNB’s fund. The fund would provide its founder access to mentors having great business intellect and positive entrepreneurial experience.
A research by BCG reveals that the IoT market is expected to register significant increase in revenue across all levels of the technology deal and by the year 2020 the B2B spending on IOT Technologies, apps and solutions are expected to register a growth up to $267 billion.
TNB ventures under the effective leadership of Vicknesh has also entered into partnership with SPRING SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of SPRING Singapore, to jointly invest in and develop early-stage IoT, advanced manufacturing and engineering start-ups in Singapore with a maximum joint investment amount of up to S$4 million per venture.
