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Hello there,
As someone who spends a good deal of time on YouTube, I have a lot of favorite video series. One of them is Over/Under. It’s a series run by music publication Pitchfork where the interviewers ask a range of celebrities – from legendary soul singer Smokey Robinson to pop star Dua Lipa – whether certain concepts are overrated or underrated.
This inspired me to label some of the things I’ve come across in my daily life. Cow’s milk, Pulp Fiction, and TikTok? Overrated. Rice milk, After Hours, and peace of mind? Criminally underrated.
Now, I’m not saying that Temasek is overrated – it deserves all the attention and praise it gets for the returns it makes – but GIC definitely falls in the underrated camp. Last year, both Singapore state funds topped the list of most active global sovereign investors, so the latter can definitely hold its own.
In this week’s Big Story, my colleague Nikita maps GIC’s global investments.
The Singapore sovereign wealth fund emphasizes diversification and caution, primarily focusing on investing in listed companies, with most of its bets being located in the US. Deploying US$40.3 billion in 2022, it’s invested in startups like Traveloka, Cred, Ola, Bibit, and Nansen.
Speaking of startups, in this week’s second Big Story, my colleague Collin details Openspace Ventures’ decision to pull out of Indonesian aquaculture startup Aruna’s series B round. Through a special purpose vehicle, the venture capital firm withdrew from its share subscription agreement with Aruna on “amicable terms.”
Funding rounds for startups can be tricky to navigate, and though VCs have become the natural benefactors for these early ventures, traditional private equity firms, such as Mekong Capital, cannot be left out of the conversation. My colleague Huong speaks with the firm’s partner, Chad Ovel, on Vietnam’s local tech and startup ecosystem in Making Waves.
For this week’s AI Odyssey, I look at DragGAN, the AI project that allows editors to manipulate 2D images as if they were 3D models, and explain the tech behind it.
— Shadine
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ Mapping GIC’s influence in the tech ecosystem
Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia using AI
In 2022, GIC invested US$40.3 billion into companies globally, 17% more than in 2021. We chart its bets in the tech space and look at its investment strategy.
MAKING WAVES
AI ODYSSEY
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
FYI
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