Vickers Venture Partners: Singapore's Deep-Tech Fund Betting on India

Vickers Venture Partners, founded in 2005 by Dr Finian Tan along with co-founders Dr Khalil Binebine, Dr Jeffrey Chi, Dr Damian Tan, Linda Li, and Raymond Kong, is a Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm with a clear and compelling thesis: "Funding a Better World." The firm invests in deep-tech sectors globally, backing entrepreneurs with revolutionary technologies committed to solving major global problems — from climate change to disease to food security.

The firm's deep-tech focus is broad but disciplined, spanning life sciences, medtech, clean energy and climate tech, AI and computer vision, and robotics. It invests globally at the early stage, with a portfolio construction that leans toward Series A (approximately 56% of deals), with seed (16%) and Series B (22%) making up the balance. The firm maintains offices in Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, Miami, Silicon Valley, and London — a genuinely global footprint.

Vickers Venture Partners has raised over $400 million across five funds, according to the company's own releases. Fund V was $230 million (announced 2017), and Fund VI targeted $500 million with $200 million committed at first announcement around 2020. Co-founder Finian Tan has articulated a nuanced geographic thesis: in developed markets the firm backs "deep-tech — AR, VR, robotics and AI," while in developing countries it focuses on "problem solving" and leapfrog technologies.

Crucially for Indian founders, Vickers publicly announced its India entry in September 2017, with Finian Tan telling Mint (via VCCircle) that one-third of Fund V was earmarked for Southeast Asia and India — with the possibility of allocating it entirely to India depending on deal quality. Target deal sizes were $1–5 million, to be managed from Singapore. This was a significant commitment at the time, signalling that a leading Singapore deep-tech fund saw India as a core market.

However, founders should note an important caveat: no India-headquartered portfolio company could be verified from credible sources. The closest India link is MatchMove Pay, a Singapore fintech with operations in India. The firm's official site does not list Indian companies. This does not mean the India program was abandoned, but founders should approach with awareness and ask directly about current India activity and portfolio.

Notable global portfolio companies, all listed on the firm's official site, include RWDC Industries (biodegradable biopolymers), Eavor (geothermal energy), Lumitron Technologies (X-ray systems), Atomwise (AI drug discovery), Aardvark Therapeutics (metabolic disease), Chooch (computer vision), Emergex Vaccines (synthetic vaccines), and AWAK Technologies (portable dialysis). Past exits include Baidu, Focus Media, and Kongzhong. The firm also warns that vickersventure.net and vickersventureai.com are scam impersonations — the only legitimate site is vickersventure.com.