This was disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan who was speaking at a gathering of more than 200 members of the US venture capital (VC) community during the TechVenture 2000 conference here.
Out of the 21, eight funds are in partnership with US-based VCs.
They are Sequoia Capital, Doll Capital, Global Catalyst Partners, Crystal Internet Ventures, JH Whitney, Origin Partners, Warburg Pincus and Walden International.
Launched in April, TIF is not just aimed at attracting VC funds to be based in Singapore. It also hopes to bring in all the players in the game--people knowledgeable about the VC business, who are able to assess and value intellectual property, understand and manage risks, and have the network to grow the business in the global market--to Singapore.
Tan also announced that the government will be committing US$100 million (from TIF) to Draper Fisher Jurveston's US$1 billion ePlanet Fund to "connect the two regions of Asia and the US".
A top Silicon Valley VC firm, DFJ is most well-known for two email companies that it funded--Four11 and Hotmail--which have since been acquired by Yahoo! and Microsoft. Other start-ups under its portfolio include Singapore-grown Third Voice, Garage.com, Interwoven, RealNames and I-Cube.
"There are plenty of great new opportunities in Singapore," said DFJ co-chairman and managing director Tim Draper.
On February 24, the National Science & Technology Board (NSTB) launched the Venture Investment Support for Start-ups (VISS) fund with S$50 million seed funding for 100 locally-based start-ups. The amount is part of the NSTB's US$250 million Early Stage Fund, which in turn, is part of the US$1 billion TIF.
Using VISS, NSTB will co-invest with private investors in seed-stage start-ups but the private investments must be double that of the board's.
The board's investment size in each start-up ranges between S$60,000 and S$500,000 for a minority equity that is dependent on the valuation set by the private investors.
To date, as part of VISS, about S$2 million has been invested in eight companies ranging from construction to logistics to communications.
Twenty-eight local Internet start-ups have been selected to showcase their capabilities at the inaugural TechVenture 2000 conference here from March 8 to 10.
The event is aimed at attracting venture capitalists, investment bankers, analysts, and technopreneurs who are interested in the Asian market, and those who wish to establish their operations in Singapore.
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