Sirius Venture Consulting, a growth capital investor in Singaporean SMEs and a finance advisory firm, has opened a subsidiary in Japan, its first presence outside the city-state.
Eugene Wong, managing director of Sirius Venture Consulting, told PEO that Sirius Japan has been set up “to help our portfolio companies that want to go to Japan, with corporate development and business development services.”
He added: “We are also hoping to attract Japanese SMEs to set up in Singapore – we see opportunities where Japanese companies may want to come to Singapore to grow their businesses.”
The company will also provide strategic business consulting services to Japanese companies that want to launch their products or services in countries such as Singapore and Japan.
Wong said that Japan was the preferred location for the firm’s first foray outside of Singapore as many SMEs find it difficult to enter the Japanese market; and on the other hand, the subsidiary will serve to bring Japanese brands and technology to Singapore.
Sirius Japan is headed by managing director Shigeru Fukunaga, who is a former director of The Carlyle Group. At Carlyle, he was based in Tokyo and focused on venture and growth capital investment opportunities in Japan.
Before Carlyle, he was a principal at Crimson Ventures and an investment manager at Nikko Capital, where he had postings in Singapore and the US. At Nikko Capital, he was responsible for overseas investments and strategic alliances with US venture capital firms, and in assessing investment opportunities in the US.
The firm is currently raising the S$30 million ($22 million; €14 million) Sirius SME Growth Partners I, which will provide growth and expansion capital to SMEs in Singapore. Wong said that the firm is in negotiations with a company to make its first investment from the fund, and the deal is expected to be completed by August.
Sirius was established in 2002.
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