Advanced Certificate in Venture Capital Module 1: Market Overview and Global Perspectives

Finance & Investment

Next Intake: 3 Jul 2025 (Thu)

Basic
SkillsFuture
Short Courses
This module is part of Advanced Certificate in Venture Capital

Next course starts on

3 Jul 2025 (Thu) See Full Schedule

Fee

SGD2,180* (as low as SGD254 after maximum funding) Learn More

Duration

2 days

Level

Basic

Who Should Attend

Entrepreneurs and business professionals interested to understand how Venture Capitalists (VCs) operate to better prepare or differentiate their companies for investments by VCs.

Finance professionals interested to equip themselves with a comprehensive appreciation of the Venture Capital industry and its practices.

Pre-requisites:

Participants should have at least 2 years of working experience with interest in Venture Capital management/ practices; Tertiary qualifications.

Overview

Global venture deals and dollars reached record highs in 2021, hitting USD621 billion. By 2025, total private equity under management is projected to be USD5.8 trillion. Family offices in Singapore had also grown from less than 200 in 2020 to more than 400 in 2021, attesting to the growing popularity of Venture Capital (VC) as an investible asset class in Singapore.

This module offers a market overview and global perspective in a venture capital ecosystem. Through having guest speakers from seasoned industry executives, in-class facilitated learning activities and global case studies focus on an emphasis on learning objectives and outcomes, we aim to provide knowledge and simulated classroom discussion practical issues in a VC environment.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the 2-day module, participants will be able to:

Understand and learn about the global trends in VC and historical development of this industry
Apply and evaluate the current development of VC industry in view of disruptive technology and a new era of NFTs, DAO, sustainability and quantum computing
Develop and implement a personal road map with learning goals to continually learn and keep up with this industry over time
Understand the deal flow processes, recognise the key stakeholders and apply the associated risks and rewards

Topic/Structure

Guest Speakers for January 2025's intake:

Patrick Lim, Chief Executive Officer, Action Community of Enterpriseship (A.C.E.)
Woei Seng Yuan, Director, Technology Cluster, MP Group.

Day 1:

Introduction to Venture Capital:

Learn global history of venture capital
Understand different types of companies and business structures in venture capital industry.
Introduce various stages of venture capital
Understand the concept of levers in value in venture capital industry.

Understand the basics of Venture Capital Deal Flow:

Introduce key functions and stakeholders
Recognize Risk vs Rewards for Venture Investors
Introduce key functions and stakeholders

Day 2:

Introduce the megatrends in the global venture capital industry
Guest speakers to share about the ecosystem and trends caused by disruptive technologies
A VC Checklist on personal learning: Providing participants with a venture capital knowledge toolkit on enabling personal change in the path to building a road map of continual learning; Identifying personally valuable goals and apply a checklist of seven practical steps as the first step to join the venture capital industry and family offices including personal networking and branding in social media
Assessment; Closing Debrief and Feedback.

Assessment

There will be presentation or written assessments for each module.

Participants have to meet a minimum attendance rate of 75% and have to complete all assessment(s) required by the course. Only upon meeting the minimum attendance and passing the assessment will participants be issued a Certificate of Completion.

Participants who fail the assessment will be given a chance for re-assessment at a fee of SGD100.00 (excluding prevailing GST). Each participant is allowed 1 re-assessment. The re-assessment has to be taken within 7 calendar days from the end of the course date. It will be held on a weekday specified by SMU Academy and conducted during office hours. Please note that re-assessment fees are not supported by SSG Funding.

Participants who meet the minimum attendance rate but do not achieve a pass for the assessment will be issued a Certificate of Participation.

Participants are required to bring their laptop to access the course materials, class exercises and individual assessment(s).

In order to be awarded with Advanced Certificate in Venture Capital, participants are required to complete all 6 modules (ideally in sequence) within 2 years. Please note that as much as possible, Module 6 should only be attempted after the rest of the modules have been completed.

Calculate Programme Fee

Fee Table

COMPANY-SPONSORED

PARTICIPANT PROFILE

SELF-SPONSORED

SME

NON-SME

Singapore Citizen < 40 years old

Permanent Resident

LTVP+

$654

(After SSG Funding 70%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ ETSS Funding 20%)

$654

(After SSG Funding 70%)

Singapore Citizen ≥ 40 years old

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ MCES Funding 20%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ ETSS Funding 20%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ MCES Funding 20%)

International Participant

$2,180

(No Funding)

$2,180

(No Funding)

$2,180

(No Funding)

All prices include 9% GST

Please note that the programme fees are subject to change without prior notice.

Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA)
PSEA can be utilised for subsidised programmes eligible for SkillsFuture Credit support. Click here to find out more.

Self Sponsored

SkillsFuture Credit: Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above may use their SkillsFuture Credits to pay for the course fees. The credits may be used on top of existing course fee funding.

This is only applicable to self-sponsored participants. Application to utilise SkillsFuture Credits can be submitted when making payment for the course via the SMU Academy TMS Portal, and can only be made within 60 days of course start date.

Please click here for more information on the SkillsFuture Credit. For help in submitting an SFC claim, you may wish to refer to our step-by-step guide on claiming SkillsFuture Credits (Individual).
Workfare Skills Support Scheme: From 1 July 2023, the Workfare Skills Support (WSS) scheme has been enhanced. Please click here for more details.

Company Sponsored

Enhanced Training Support for SMEs (ETSS)

Organisation must be registered or incorporated in Singapore
Employment size of not more than 200 or with annual sales turnover of not more than $100 million
Trainees must be hired in accordance with the Employment Act and fully sponsored by their employers for the course
Trainees must be Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents
Trainees must not be a full-time national serviceman
Trainees are eligible for ETSS funding only if their company's SME status is approved prior to the course commencement date. To verify your SME's status, please click here.

Please click here for more information on ETSS.

Absentee Payroll

Companies who sponsor their employees for the course may apply for Absentee Payroll here. For more information, please refer to:

AP Guide (Non-SME Companies)
Declaration Guide (SME Companies)

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Trainers

EDWARD TAY

Chairman of Infracrowd Capital

United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Testimonials

I would advise anyone in my network to attend Prof Tay's courses. He doesn't do history, but focuses on what is relevant now, identifying trends before the wider market picks up on them. I have grown professionally from sessions.

Aside from his wide market knowledge, and acute eye for valuation and economics, it is also a great forum to meet a wide spectrum of market savvy professionals. Fantastic array of industry guest speakers as well.

KRISTIAN WILSON

BEDELL CRISTIN (SINGAPORE) LLP

Prof Edward has been very helpful in explaining subject matter to us in a very informative manner.

Vanessa Leong

Director

Suave Aroma

A very good course to have an overview of the VC industry with a very personal touch by the instructor with his own set of perspectives, principles, and experience in the VC industry. Additionally, networking with fellow trainees is of great value for future friendship and collaboration. Keep up the good work, SMU Academy team!

Dr James Ong

CEO

Origami Frontiers Pte. Ltd.

Edward's deal-making aptitude is exceptional, especially in bridging eastern and western cultures. Venture Capital is ultimately a people's business and Edward has much to impart. I look forward to learning more from him.

Jeremy Ang

Global Strategy Director, M&A

Bytedance

This course has offered valuable insights into the perspective of a venture capitalist and how to address specific important questions. It has instilled in me the motivation and confidence to approach new problems effectively and leverage networking opportunities to augment and accelerate my progress.

Steven Lim

Senior Manager

Hitachi Asia

This course has been executed with great proficiency and delivered in a highly professional manner. I highly recommend both SMU and Professor Edward Tay without any hesitation, as there are valuable takeaways for everyone. Professor Tay presents his vast experience and knowledge in a palatable manner, coupled with remarkable humility—a rare trait in today's era. Grateful for his kind attention and guidance.

Haridas Vasantha Devi

Managing Director

Silver International Chambers LLC

I cannot think of a better person than Edward - decades of hands-on experience in venture creation and VC investment, international exposure including China, Europe, India, ASEAN, and North America. More importantly, he has a generous heart to share his valuable knowledge and insights to contribute back to the community, especially to younger generations.

Tyler Huang

Venture Partner

Transfong Ventures

...a valuable course for others who would like to enhance their knowledge of Venture Capital. It is very relevant at this juncture, when the world is moving towards uncertainty.

Brijesh Kumar Shukla

Vice President, Fixed Income

JP Morgan

The course was a great introduction to the world of venture capital, and it was great to have Prof. Edward Tay, a veteran in the field, as the instructor. He is open to sharing his wealth of experience and practical, real-life examples. We were honored to have the opportunity to learn from him. The cohort consisted of a diverse mix of individuals and we could all learn from each other. I highly recommend this course to anyone with even the slightest interest in the captivating world of venture capital investing. It truly was a fun learning experience!

Jaclyn Kaur Tien Hui

Head of Private Client Services

Guotai Junan International Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd

Additional Details

Programme Registration

Applications will be reviewed by our Programme Admissions Committee. The decision made by the committee is final and no request to review the decision or reveal the considerations leading to the decision would be entertained.

Certified Professional Business Manager (CPBM)

This programme is part of Certified Professional Business Manager. Participants who successfully complete 6 courses/modules with a minimum of 15 training days, from a list of qualifying programmes (terms and conditions apply) within 5 years will receive the Certified Professional Business Manager (CPBM). For example: