Ohanae, which offers ATM-like security for cloud storage, raises six-digit sum from TNF Ventures

Ohanae, a Singapore startup that is offering enterprises and professionals a way to safeguard data on the cloud, has raised a six-digit sum from TNF Ventures, a Singapore-based early-stage fund.

While TNF is under the government’s Technology Incubation Scheme, which co-funds startups along with the private investor, all the money from this round is supplied by TNF.

Altogether, the startup has raised USD 2.4M since inception in 2007. It just received a grant from SPRING TECS, and they’re now seeking a Series A round of USD 5M.

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Malaysian social recruiting startup Tribehired closes USD 560K round led by TNF Ventures

TribeHired, a social recruitment website started by a team from Malaysia, announced that it has closed SGD 696K (USD 560K) in early stage funding led by TNF Ventures through the Singapore government’s Technology Incubation Scheme. Angel investors Ben Ball and Ben Chew also contributed.

A graduate of startup accelerator JFDI.Asia‘s inaugural bootcamp, TribeHired is currently in beta with several thousand job seekers in Malaysia. It is also being used by companies such as Zalora, Lazada, fellow JFDI.Asia grad Flocations, and Brandtology. Read more

TradeHero, a fantasy stock trading game with real-world implications, launches for the iPhone

We’re all familiar with fantasy football, where you pick a team, watch how their real-world counterparts perform, and see your team go up or down the rankings. TradeHero, a Singapore-based startup, is doing the same for stock traders.

This is a game that could help you make real money. The iPhone app, which just launched today, gets data from 14 stock exchanges, 45,000 global securities, and has 1,300 currency pairs. Users are given $100,000 in virtual currency, which they can then use to build to virtual portfolio.

From then on, it’s a race to the top. A leaderboard shows who are the most successful traders in the game, and they will be ranked by exchange, sector, monthly, quarterly, and overall returns. These top scorers will be called ‘Heroes’, hence the name of the app.

Here’s where things get interesting. Users can follow their favorite heroes for a small monthly fee, where they can receive stock tips via push notifications on their smartphones. The company will then split the monthly fees equally with the heroes. Read more

For Terence Tan of TNF Ventures, finding that one big hit isn’t enough

Fun is a rather quaint way for an investment firm to differentiate itself. But Terence Tan, an investor at TNF Ventures, is pretty serious about fun — and always have been. A competitive player in golf and tennis, he once overextended himself over a tennis game, fell and suffered a concussion, then lost his sense of smell.

This paradox of having serious fun permeates TNF’s culture. They’re managing money on behalf of NRF, a government body in charge of scientific research, yet they organized a poker tournament at their launch event. They wore gaudy red and white polo tees that made the event look more Resorts World than Marina Bay Sands, yet gave a Powerpoint presentation to introduce the firm.

It’s a signal that they don’t take themselves too seriously, but are hungry about making the right investment bets. It image seems befitting for a team of successful corporate and entrepreneurial types who’ve got it made. They don’t really need to start another fund, but for one reason or another, decided to. Read more

Red Dot Ventures invests USD480K in Singapore’s Innova Technology

Singapore-based technology startup incubator Red Dot Ventures announced yesterday that it has invested SGD589k (USD480k) in Innova Technology, a Singapore startup that has developed consumer loss-prevention device Protag.

In the press release, Red Dot Ventures states that it will provide the company not just with funding, but also mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs in the consumer digital space, as well as market access to Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe.

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Plunify, which makes chip design cheaper, faster and mobile, raises USD 484k from Get2Volume and NRF

Plunify, a Singapore startup that brings microchip design to the cloud, announced this week that it has raised seed funding of SGD589k (USD484k) from Get2Volume and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Get2Volume is an early stage technology investor and incubator, while NRF is a government organization that promotes R&D in the country.

Chip design is an inherently complex process requiring sizable computing power. What Plunify does is offload some of the most demanding tasks to the cloud, which can complete these tasks faster than traditional methods due to its parallel computing capabilities and flexibility. Read more

Brandtology founder Eddie Chau at it again; starts V-Key, a mobile security company

Eddie Chau, a successful serial entrepreneur that has founded and sold two startups, eCop and Brandtology, has started his third company, which is called V-Key, learnt SGE in an exclusive email interview with the team.

Based in Singapore, the company will provide patent-pending technology that makes mobile apps and smart phones secure even in the event of a cyberattack.

The founding team possesses a combination of deep startup and corporate experience, as well as technical expertise.

Eddie serves as the (non-executive) chairman of the new company, while Ben Mah joins the team as CEO and Joseph Gan as CTO.

Ben was formally the General Manager of eCop and the business development director for Asia-Pacific at Oracle. He was also a regional director for enterprise company Encentuate, founded by Ong Peng Tsin, a successful Singaporean entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley. Read more

Digital marketing, customer engagement startup Mobikon gets US$1.7M from Jungle Ventures and others

Mobikon, a Singapore and India-based startup that offers a suite of services for businesses to make customer feedback, engagement, and analysis more efficient, announced last week that it has closed US$1.7M in Series A investments led by Singapore-based Jungle Ventures.

This round is supported by a group of angel investors, including Ravi Mantha, member of the Board of Trustees at The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). Read more

TNF Ventures, a new startup incubator in Singapore, knows how to have fun

Efforts made by Singapore government to nurture the nation’s entrepreneurship scene have finally rippled down to the private sector.

With the extension of the National Research Foundation’s Technology Incubator Scheme (NRF-TIS), eight new incubator-funds have emerged last year. Among them is TNF Ventures (TNFV), which held an official launch last Friday.

The fund is founded by several veterans, consisting of a good mix of entrepreneurs, senior corporate executives and venture capitalists, mostly in the IT industry. Read more

Eight more incubators join Singapore’s Technology Incubation Scheme

The National Research Foundation (NRF), a Singapore government agency, has picked eight more incubators for its Technology Incubation Scheme (TIS).

The eight incubators are: Get2Volume, Golden Gate Venture Investments, Incuvest, Jungle Ventures, Red Dot Ventures, The Biofactory, The Network Fund (TNF), and WaveMaker Labs. Full details in the press release.

Under TIS, the NRF will co-fund up to 85 percent of total investment per company, or up to S$500k (US$400k), with the rest topped up by the venture firm. Only Singapore-based startups need apply.

The incubators can choose to buy out NRF’s equity share within three years of investment, at a price of 1.1 times capital in the first two years, and 1.15 times capital in year three.

Born in 2006, the NRF dictates the country’s direction for R&D by developing national policies and planning strategies for innovation, enterprise, and research. Read more