Makara Innovation Fund (MIF
or the Fund), a S$1 billion private equity fund focused on helping businesses with
strong IP (Intellectual Property) go global, today announced its first
investment of S$70 million in regional TelcoTech player, MyRepublic.
MIF was launched in August 2017 in collaboration with
the Intellectual
Property Office of Singapore (IPOS),
with the aim of furthering IP management and commercialisation in qualifying
portfolio companies. The Fund’s mandate is to invest in late-stage start-ups
and growth-stage companies with globally competitive technology and solutions
to augment enterprise value by fostering scale up and cross-border growth
strategies. To accelerate growth, the Fund employs buy-and-build strategies and
a “from Singapore and through Singapore” approach, leveraging the
city-state as a strategic hub from where companies can regionalise and scale
up.
The investment decision was supported by the Fund’s positive
assessment of the company’s compelling growth fundamentals and innovative
business model, and IP ValueLab’s
due diligence evaluation of MyRepublic’s strong IP portfolio.
IP ValueLab is a wholly owned subsidiary and the enterprise
engagement arm of IPOS, offering IP management consultancy services to
businesses across a wide range of industries. It is a strategic partner to the Fund offering IP evaluation and
strategy advice.
IP ValueLab conducted an intangible asset due diligence on
MyRepublic to support MIF’s investment decision. Working closely with the
MyRepublic management team, IP ValueLab has recommended business strategies to
increase the commercial value of MyRepublic’s intangible assets.
The investment
proceeds will be used to extend MyRepublic’s geographical footprint as well as
scale up its product and service offering. MIF’s investment capital and enterprise
development capabilities, in conjunction with IP ValueLab’s IP expertise, aim
to accelerate MyRepublic’s expansion across South East Asia’s lucrative
markets, building on its existing core geographies of operation in Singapore,
Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Mr. Kelvin Tan,
Director of Investments at Makara Capital, said, “MIF is proud to
announce its partnership with MyRepublic, which demonstrates the Fund’s
enterprise-aligned investment strategy in action. MyRepublic's unique lean
operating model positions it at the vanguard of the telecommunications sector’s
digital transformation in one of the most exciting growth regions of the world.
The Fund’s investment capital aims to enable the company’s growth ambitions,
with a focus on IP management and monetisation, scaling and expansion.”
Mr. Shau En Tan,
Executive Director of IP ValueLab, commented, “In today’s global
economy, IP is the most fundamental source of competitive advantage in
business. IP ValueLab helps innovation-driven enterprises to strategically
manage their IP resources to yield new areas of business and profit, and gain a
sustainable competitive edge with a robust IP strategy. Home-grown TelcoTech
player, MyRepublic clearly appreciates the importance of IP, having built a strong
business model around a robust suite of intangible assets and IP, reinforcing
their competitive edge with strong brand equity, technical know-how,
substantial data assets and scalable digital platforms.”
Mr. Malcolm
Rodrigues, CEO of MyRepublic, commented: “We are extremely excited to
have secured a significant investment commitment from MIF. In addition to
providing growth-stage capital, MIF has proven to be a valuable partner that
recognises MyRepublic as an industry trailblazer, reinventing the economics of
telecommunications. We have a deep appreciation of MIF’s differentiated
investment approach, and share its vision for scaling up dynamic enterprises
and supporting internationalisation.”
“We have been developing our proprietary cloud platform for
the past five years, which has enabled us to deploy a single operational
platform across countries and break industry records by turning EBITDA-positive
within two years of entering each new market. The investment will supercharge
the platform’s development, support our aggressive growth path to expand our
regional footprint within a record-breaking timeframe and deliver an even wider
range of services. Concurrently, our engagement with IP ValueLab has proven
most beneficial, and we are now working closely with MIF to implement
recommended IP monetisation strategies in view of further value creation for
our investors,” added Mr. Rodrigues.