Advanced Certificate in Venture Capital Module 2: Investment Strategies, Framework and Techniques

Finance & Investment

Next Intake: 4 Aug 2025 (Mon)

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

Next course starts on

4 Aug 2025 (Mon) 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

A successful venture capitalist (VC) needs years of training and honing of practical skills to be successful. Exposure and knowledge of a wide variety of industries, sectors and understanding of different business structures are also critical to aid them in the identification of opportunities and construction of investment strategies.

Building on the knowledge acquired in Module 1, this 2-day module aims to introduce participants to the different investment strategies, techniques and framework used by VCs and family offices.

Learning Objectives

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

Learn and implement the key investment criteria and considerations adopted by VCs in assessing investment deals
Apply and reflect, through a case study, individual biases and blind spots during evaluation of new investments
Appreciate basic portfolio management plans and regulatory and risk assessment
Implement a toolkit to assess the founders’ team and investment framework

Topic/Structure

Day 1:

Introduction to key criteria to investment:

Founders’ Profile and Founders’ assessment
Portfolio Management Plan
Regulatory & Risk Assessment
An overview of the framework and component of different types of market sizing and tools available
Introduce a basic toolkit to assess founders’ team and investment framework
Create a self-exercise and class room discussion

Learn and apply key criteria to investment:

Value Creation; Synergy; Risk Mitigation; Exit Strategies; Understand the framework of value creation
Guest speakers to share the framework of value creation and investment value

Day 2:

Appreciate and apply the VC deal flow process:

Review and summarize the strategies and techniques to source for quality deals
Understand, apply and gain insights to what makes a good deal for VC
Conduct a self-exercise to execute a case study to provide personal insights and reflection to raise their quality and quantity of deal flow in venture capital industry.

Implement a VC Toolkit on investment framework and strategies:

Review with participants with a holistic framework to identify key criteria to identify good investment deals and good founder team in the global stage
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)

SANJEY CHANDRAN

Investment Director

CSD Ventures

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

What a fantastic learning experience it has been! I thoroughly enjoyed the professor's sharing and teachings, particularly when he incorporated real-life pitching examples. We also had the opportunity to discuss reasons for investing or not investing. The depth of coverage was perfect, making me want to learn more and dive deeper into the subject. I highly recommend this course to anyone in the financial industry, as it equips you with the necessary soft and hard skills needed for the venture capital world.

Jaclyn Kaur Tien Hui

Head of Private Client Services

Guotai Junan International securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd

This is a great course on Investment Strategies, Frameworks, and Techniques that I have learned, picked up, and will now apply to new areas of strategies and thought-provoking ideas for different technologies. I thoroughly enjoyed the course.

Chen Yiling

Manager

Duke-NUS Medical School - Singapore

Thanks for inviting me as the guest speaker for this course, indeed a privilege to share my entrepreneurial journey and am heartened with the positive energy and response from everyone.

Michael Lew

Chair, Enterprise Blockchain Subcomittee

Blockchain Association Singapore

Many times, Entrepreneurs, Small Business Owners, Individuals have very bright ideas, however, they do not execute the ideas due to the lack of funds. We encourage them to attend this course, learn in detail and apply in practice how to utilize venture capital by learned Mr Tay

Brijesh Kumar Shukla

President

Singapore North Indian Hindu Association

Prof. Edward Tay generously shared his knowledge and guidance with us. It was truly a lively, engaging, and enlightening two-day period. We extend our heartfelt thanks to SMU for organizing this session.

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

Dr. Tay was a fountain of experience, resources, knowledge, and connections in the VC ecosystem. His unparalleled willingness to generously share from this fountain was remarkable. His humility, humor, and patience were such a surprise, given how valuable his time and attention are within the VC community. He is truly a treasure within both SMU's and Singapore's VC communities.

Charmaine Panikar

Investor

Turbostart

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

The course primed us to think about Venture Capital, both internally and externally; it triggered us to be more self-aware in our communications and interactions. Professor Tay provided opportunities to ask questions about topics that were new and I took away many new skills that I can apply after the course. He raised the bar –by midday on the first day, he inspired people to participate. Nothing but high praises. He was very truthful and open with the class.

Sanjey Chandran

Director

CSD Ventures

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: