Chart of the Day: Local venture capital deals surge in 2015

Check out the most active VC firms this year.

The number of venture capital deals in Singapore increased in 2015 as more investors injected funds into promising local startups.

This chart from Preqin shows that both aggregate deal value and the number of deals increased in 2015. Aggregate deal value rose from $841 million in 2014 to $993 million in 2015, while the number of deals rose from 102 in 2014 to 147 in 2015.

“The increase in both the number and total value of venture capital deals in Asia through 2015 was part of a broader global trend – the same uptick in venture capital activity was recorded across all regions. In particular, the average size of funding rounds increased, suggesting that more sizeable investments are becoming more commonplace,” said Felice Egidio, Head of Venture Capital Products at Preqin.

“In contrast, in 2016 we have seen that trend reversed, with the number of venture capital investments globally declining in Q1. However, this decrease is not uniform across all regions and industries, and it might be that some investors view markets such as Singapore as a relatively safe haven when compared to more volatile markets in Asia. The friendly environment being fostered in the country, combined with the large amount of dry powder available for fund managers to invest, makes it likely that deal volume in Singapore might continue to be high through the rest of the year,” he added. 

As of April 2016, Preqin data show that the most active VC firms in Singapore are Jungle Ventures, 500 Startups, East Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, Red Dot Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, SingTel Innov8, Vertex Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Infocomm Investments.