Lightspeed India on Asia's Tech Investment Opportunities
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Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
TCV's Top European Investor John Doran Relocates To Silicon Valley
Revolut investor John Doran helped setup TCV's Europe operates but is now relocating to help head up its Bay Area headquarters. TCV Spotify, Netflix, and Zillow investor TCV was one of the first growth equity funds to set up an European operation. Now, John Doran, who helped open the fund's London office as a general partner, is now relocating to San Francisco to head up its operations. Doran has made a string of late-stage bets on fast-growing startups like British digital bank Revolut which was last valued at $45 billion, Swedish fintech Klarna and classified marketplace Adevinta since joining TCV in 2012. He became the fund's co-managing partner, along with TCV cofounder Jay Hoag in 2022. The move also lines up the next stage for the fund, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary and is one of the oldest of Silicon Valley's so-called crossover funds, investing in larger startups and public tech companies. Hoag continues to co-lead the fund and make investments, but Doran has emerged as the successor for the veteran investor. 'Having John here will be huge because he's very hands-on and brings a global perspective to America,' said Hoag. 'I think we really want to up our game for the next 10, 20, 30 years at TCV. I doubt I'll be celebrating the 60th anniversary in 30 years. But someone here will.' Doran's relocation doesn't mark a retreat from Europe for TCV, with partners Michael Kalfayan and Muz Ashraf now leading the London office. 'The technology market here is incredibly deep and vibrant, and with the AI revolution there's a ton of innovation happening,' Doran told Forbes . 'We see tremendous opportunity here in what's been our traditional headquarters.' Doran is one of three partners who call the shots on new investments, along with partner Woody Marshall, who is known for his 2013 bet on Spotify, now worth $144 billion, and Hoag, whose initial 1999 bet on Netflix led to TCV owning a 43% stake in the company at the time of its 2002 IPO. The streamer has ballooned to a $512 billion market cap in the two decades since, with Hoag as a board member throughout. A new wave of AI startups have helped revitalize San Francisco, but the intense competition poses a challenge for investors like TCV, which has $22 billion in assets. Rival growth funds have made huge investments in loss-making AI model builders like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's xAI that have soared in valuation over the last 18 months. For now, TCV has reservations about the economics of some AI players but is making bets in the application layer, like AI tracking tool Arize. Meanwhile, its existing portfolio companies are investing heavily in AI. 'It feels like a lot of this money going into AI won't have a return associated with it, but a small number will be phenomenal,' warned Hoag. 'As a growth investor, we have to identify the next generation of magical companies like Netlifx, Spotify, or Revolut.' TCV does have the dry powder to fund new AI investments after raising a new $3 billion fund last year, one of the largest fundraises for a tech-focused fund, despite broader funding challenges in the ecosystem. Pitchbook data shows that fund raising from U.S. venture capitalists collapsed to $76 billion in 2024 from its peak of $188 billion in 2021. Venture capitalists rarely disclose fund performance but TCV is backed by several public sector funds like California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) that do publish summaries of investment returns. CalPERS data shows that its investment in TCV's X fund had generated a net internal rate of return (IRR) of 21.5% and was one of the pension fund's top performing private fund investments. Software company Carta tracks investment data from over 2,500 venture funds, including earlier stage and higher risk funds, and found that funds that started investing in 2019 had a median IRR of 6.7%. CalPERS also invested in TCV's XI fund in 2021 that's currently showing a -1.5% net IRR, which is behind the Carta average of -0.9% for the cohort of funds that started investing in 2021. Other CalPERS tech fund bets from the same vintage have also undershot but it is hard to gauge long-term performance in the early innings of funds that often have a life span of more than ten years. TCV declined to comment but sources close to the fund said that it returned over $4 billion of capital to its backers in 2024 alone, and over $15 billion since 2020, with the latter period marked by a severe drought of initial public offerings and takeovers that left investors, and their backers, often starved of liquidity. Bumper initial public offerings from Coreweave, Chime and Figma this year could signal more potential exits on the horizon for tech investors like TCV. The Menlo Park-based fund has already had one of its investments Hinge Health go public this year in a $3 billion initial public offering (albeit at a 52% lower valuation than its last round in 2021), while Klarna filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year, and Revolut was reportedly in talks to raise at a $65 billion valuation earlier this year. More from Forbes Forbes This Top VC Wants To Use Main Street America As An AI Lab By Iain Martin Forbes For AI Startups, A 7-Day Work Week Isn't Enough By Richard Nieva Forbes Thwarted By Regulators, Vindicated By Wall Street: Design Startup Figma's CEO Is Now A Multi-Billionaire By Iain Martin
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SINGZYME WINS 2025 AMGEN X NSG GOLDEN TICKET FOR BREAKTHROUGH BIOCONJUGATION PLATFORM
Now in its fourth year, the programme continues to empower biotech startups through ecosystem support and collaboration to advance science that serves patients. SINGAPORE, Aug. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Singzyme, a Singapore-based biotech startup pioneering next-generation bioconjugation solutions, has been named the winner of the 2025 Golden Ticket Programme in Singapore. The award is part of a joint programme by Amgen, a U.S.-based leader in biologic medicines and NSG BioLabs, Singapore's leading provider of biotechnology co-working laboratories and offices. Now in its fourth year, the Golden Ticket Programme supports promising biotech startups by providing infrastructure, mentorship, and resources to advance scientific progress and talent development in accelerating the development of new therapies. As this year's awardee, Singzyme will receive a one-year residency at NSG BioLabs, along with access to certified BSL-2 lab facilities and networking opportunities through Amgen's community of scientific and business leaders. Singzyme was selected from a competitive pool of six finalists following an interactive pitch session reviewed by Amgen's internal scientific committee. The startup stood out for its proprietary Peptide Asparaginyl Ligase (PAL) platform, a novel site-specific conjugation technology that addresses key challenges in the manufacturing of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and other complex biologics. The platform holds strong potential for enabling safer, more precise, and efficient production of next-generation targeted therapies. "Singzyme's novel platform reflects the strong scientific thinking and innovation emerging from Singapore's biotech sector," said Dr Alan Russell, Vice President for Research Biologics at Amgen. "It's encouraging to see creative approaches to longstanding challenges in bioconjugation, and we're pleased to be part of an initiative that helps spotlight and connect promising science with broader networks in the industry that aligns with Amgen's mission to deliver impactful therapies to serve patients." Ms Daphne Teo, CEO and Founder of NSG BioLabs, added, "The Golden Ticket Programme provides a valuable stepping stone for biotech startups at critical stages of their journey. As Singapore's life sciences community continues to expand, it's exciting to support companies like Singzyme as they bring their ideas to life and move closer to the clinic in Singapore's growing vibrant biotech industry." Mr Abbas Sahili, Chief Technology Officer, inventor and founding team member of Singzyme, said, "This award validates the transformative potential of Singzyme's peptide ligation technology to enable the next generation of precision medicines. The Golden Ticket is a significant recognition of our PAL platform's ability to address critical unmet needs in biologics development - not only in oncology, but across diverse modalities and disease areas." Mr Wee Kiat Tan, CEO of Singzyme, said, "With this support, we are committed to advancing our platform toward clinical applications in oncology and beyond. Through this collaboration, we will continue to strengthen our capabilities and accelerate the delivery of impactful therapies to patients worldwide." Singzyme joins a growing list of previous Golden Ticket recipients in Singapore, including Albatroz Therapeutics, VerImmune, and PairX Bio. These companies have leveraged the programme's access and visibility to further their research, raise funding, and expand partnerships. Albatroz secured US$3 million in seed funding to advance its drug development programmes, while VerImmune's recent closure of the first half of its Pre-Series A round reflects strong confidence in its platform and trajectory. Unlocking Biotech Growth Through Cross-Sector Collaboration Accelerating biotech startups takes more than breakthrough science, it requires the right mix of mentorship, infrastructure, and collaboration. This was the key message shared at a panel discussion held at the award ceremony, titled "Powering Biotech Breakthroughs: Scaling Science Through Cross-Sector Collaboration." Speakers from Amgen, ClavystBio, and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) discussed how cross-sector collaboration is helping startups progress from scientific concepts to real-world applications. The discussion emphasized the importance of a dynamic ecosystem – one that offers shared infrastructure, strong talent pipelines, and access to mentorship – to support biotech ventures and enable researchers and entrepreneurs to grow and scale globally. "We are growing Singapore's biotech leadership via three key drivers – access to capital, a strong talent pool, and strategic partnerships," said Mr Chen Pengfei, Vice President for Healthcare of EDB. "Beyond a strong scientific community, a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem is critical to bringing innovations to market. We hope to forge more collaborations with key stakeholders including academic and biotech companies, to unlock greater growth opportunities from Singapore." For more information on Golden Ticket Programme, visit About Amgen Amgen discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers innovative medicines to help millions of patients in their fight against some of the world's toughest diseases. More than 40 years ago, Amgen helped to establish the biotechnology industry and remains on the cutting-edge of innovation, using technology and human genetic data to push beyond what's known today. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline that builds on its existing portfolio of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, inflammatory diseases and rare diseases. In 2024, Amgen was named one of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" by Fast Company and one of "America's Best Large Employers" by Forbes, among other external recognitions. Amgen is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, and it is also part of the Nasdaq-100 Index®, which includes the largest and most innovative non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market based on market capitalization. For more information, visit and follow Amgen on X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Threads. About NSG BioLabs Founded with a focus on supporting biotech innovation, NSG BioLabs offers state-of-the-art equipment, efficient operations, capital efficiency, the expertise of world-class teams and global networks to assist life sciences companies. The conducive R&D environment contains fully-equipped, certified BSL-2 laboratory and office infrastructure across 70,000 sq ft within Singapore's biomedical science clusters, Biopolis and Singapore Science Park. By providing access to high-quality infrastructure, its extensive partner network, community, and value-add benefits, NSG BioLabs ensures that companies, ranging from emerging biotech startups to multinational companies, can rapidly and efficiently execute on their cutting-edge research and development ecosystem in Singapore, leading to the innovation of revolutionary technologies and products that translate into breakthrough biotech ventures and impact for patients. For more information, visit About Singzyme Singzyme is a Singapore-based biotechnology company pioneering next-generation bioconjugation solutions for the manufacturing of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and other complex biologics. Its proprietary Peptide Asparaginyl Ligase (PAL) based conjugation platform enables highly precise, efficient, and scalable site-specific conjugation of payloads to antibodies and other proteins. By combining breakthrough enzymatic technology with deep expertise in protein engineering, Singzyme empowers partners to accelerate the development of safer, more effective targeted therapies. For more information visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Amgen
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
eClerx Marks 25 Years of Innovation, Growth, and Client Impact
Celebrates a legacy of operational excellence while charting an ambitious future NEW YORK & MUMBAI, India, August 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eClerx Services Ltd. (NSE: ECLERX), a global leader in productized services and operations, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, marking its journey from a single-client operation to a publicly traded, global enterprise with 20,000+ employees across APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. "Twenty-five years ago, eClerx set out to build a company rooted in problem-solving, client partnership, and relentless execution," said Kapil Jain, CEO of eClerx. "Today, that foundation is stronger than ever. We're investing in the future, and embracing generative AI, automation, and next-gen delivery models to help our clients stay ahead in a rapidly changing world." In addition to company-wide celebratory events held this month, eClerx has been using this moment to chart a roadmap through a series of forward-looking initiatives: Accelerating AI and capability investments: eClerx has been focusing on growth across technologies and geographies. It has invested in a new capability center to co-develop GenAI-powered solutions with clients. In the last six months, it has launched a Center of Excellence in Fayetteville, USA, and new delivery centers in Peru and Egypt, to drive expansion and enhance agility and multilingual capabilities. Building a future-ready workforce: eClerx is investing heavily in its own employees, ensuring they are secure, empowered, and equipped to thrive in an AI-driven future. It has committed to upskilling 10,000+ employees in AI, data, and digital tools by 2026. One eClerx Vision: The One eClerx vision leverages our deep domain expertise to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that span industries. By fostering cross-functional collaboration, we can deliver stronger outcomes and lasting value for our clients, while creating new growth and development opportunities for our teams. Reaffirming its sustainability goals: eClerx remains strongly committed to giving back through CSR programs focused on education, job readiness, environment conservation, and helping underprivileged communities—in partnership with over a dozen NGOs across its global footprint. A Year of Wins eClerx's anniversary year has been marked by significant accolades across technology, talent, and market presence so far. In February, it became one of the first five companies globally to receive the ISO 42001:2023 certification for responsible AI practice, the world's first international standard. More recently, it has been recognized by Forrester as a top performer for AI integration, and by Everest Group as Leader in Financial Crime Compliance and Star Performer in Capital Markets. To honor its 25-year journey, eClerx will be hosting a series of internal and external celebrations, to bring employees, partners, and clients together. These initiatives are designed to reflect the company's core values—Excellence, People, Integrity, and Client Centricity—and reaffirm its commitment to inclusivity, community engagement, and collaboration. Founded in 2000 by Wharton graduates Anjan Malik and PD Mundhra, eClerx began with a bold vision: to help companies adapt to change through expert-led, technology-enabled services. Known for its domain specialization, managed services, and outcome-focused delivery, eClerx supports some of the world's largest enterprises in transforming operations—from financial services and compliance to digital commerce, customer experience, and data-driven innovation. To know more about eClerx's journey, click here. About eClerx eClerx provides business process management, automation, and analytics services to a number of Fortune 2000 enterprises, including some of the world's leading financial services, communications, retail, fashion, media & entertainment, manufacturing, travel & leisure, and technology companies. eClerx is today traded on both the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges of India. The firm employs more than 20,000 people across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and the USA. View source version on Contacts Media contact Prathibha DasHead – Brand & Corporate
