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Hello reader,
If you’re in the tech and startup space and follow along with fundraising news, you’re probably familiar with Temasek.
The Singapore state-owned investment major has backed a large number of companies across different industries and countries, and you’ve likely seen its name popping up on cap tables or lists of investors every so often.
Despite how prolific Temasek seems to be, I feel like people don’t really understand what exactly it does.
The firm doesn’t manage taxpayer money, contrary to popular misconception, and it’s also not just a large-scale investor with fingers in many pies. It’s also building ventures of its own, and the firm has created a pretty robust ecosystem to support companies on their journeys and build new startups.
Today we look at:
- Temasek’s role in the startup space
- A blockchain-based travel startup’s new round
- Other newsy highlights such as Alibaba’s Q2 results and the end of Blizzard Entertainment’s 14-year partnership with NetEase
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Taking a closer look at Temasek
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Temasek went from investor to venture builder in 2020, when it began launching startups of its own. Since then, it’s continued to back many tech companies while building up a stable of its own firms.
- Some numbers: Temasek currently has 29 companies under it, with 12 of them being startups it has launched. It also has about 15 investment firms and a venture-building arm.
- Building and growing: Its venture-building endeavors have largely been focused in areas where technology is still nascent such as AI, Web3, and climate tech, which would benefit significantly from the institutional support that Temasek can offer. It has also partnered with 15 corporate firms, a majority of which are based in Singapore, to launch 10 ventures.
- Bet on it: Venture building gives Temasek more control of the outcomes of its startups, which makes them relatively safer bets compared to investments in external firms.
Read more: Mapping Temasek’s role in the startup space
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