'Brunei needs more venture capitalists'

Al-Haadi Abu Bakar
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

BRUNEI needs more active venture capitalists and angel investors to create a thriving ecosystem that will support Small and Medium Enterprises, an expert said, as heavy reliance on government grants can potentially make businesses less competitive.

Equity funding in particular, can help fast-growing businesses such as those in the ICT sector expand beyond Brunei, said Dr Michael Kelly (pic), a business and investment coach who was brought into the country by iCentre to conduct a workshop on 'Positioning a Startup Company for Investment'.

"For many of these entrepreneurs who have successfully started their company with customers and revenue, they will want to tap into other sources of funding to grow their business beyond Brunei, and its during these stages where VCs and Angel Investors can come in," he told The Brunei Times following his workshop at the iCentre yesterday.

Although Brunei has a relative abundance of government-backed grants, Dr Kelly advised entrepreneurs to be less reliant on such funds as they often make the businesses less competitive.

"Government grants are an easier way to raise money, but I often suggest to use them effectively and not rely too much on them. In countries such as Singapore and even the US, businesses have almost zero reliance on the government," he said.

While there are other funding mechanisms, Dr Kelly said that businesses will often get the best value through equity funding.

"VCs and Angel Investors tend to come from successfully built companies former entrepreneurs who have made their money and wanting to invest their money in another company. They are also willing to take more risks," he said.

"I understand there are a number of people in Brunei who may have built some successful companies, so getting them to be active as angel investors is going to help develop this sort of VC culture or ecosystem."

Dr Kelly noted iCentre's efforts in providing a wide range of programmes to help budding local entrepreneurs from mentorship to venture funding, calling it a good start for Brunei.

iCentre currently has two venture funding programmes for its incubatees; the recently launched INVEST (Innovative Ventures for Entrepreneurship Startups) programme and the Singapore-based Accel-X venture capital fund.

Over 30 participants attended the workshop facilitated by Dr Kelly yesterday, who explored and discussed options for obtaining investment or merger and acquisition (M&A).

Dr Kelly used examples of successful ICT companies, such as Instagram and Data Centre Business, as successful case studies of million dollar investments.

Dr Kelly has over 25 years' experience working in the telecommunications, IT and services industry including finance, hospitality and logistics, covering multiple roles across the Asia Pacific.

Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times