The partnership blends Fundnel’s deal assessment technology with Thirdrock’s investment mandate. It will help to connect Asian companies with relevant investors.

Singapore-headquartered fintech investment platform Fundnel has partnered with investment advisory and wealth management group Thirdrock to help mid-stage, high-growth companies (typically Series B onwards) obtain funding more efficiently and quickly.

The partnership blends Fundnel’s deal assessment technology with Thirdrock’s investment mandate. It will help to connect Asian companies with relevant investors.

The collaboration gives birth to a cross-referral programme that aggregates the deal pipeline of both entities. Thirdrock will also lead investments into select companies that emerge with quality scores post-assessment. 

Thirdrock, formed in 2010, is one of a new breed of external asset managers that have sprouted in Singapore and the surrounding region in recent years, often formed by breakaway teams from major banks and investment houses.

“Traditional assessment processes are lengthy and cumbersome; Fundnel’s proprietary technology, Fundnel Factor, utilises big data and automation to benchmark applicant companies against peers in similar industries and stages of growth, and score them on a relative scale. This process takes a matter of days, saving significant time for investors and applicant companies,” the firms said in a statement today.

“While radically speeding up the vetting process, there is no compromise on a vigorous quality focus – eventually only 1 per cent of all companies that apply are funded,” they said.

“As trusted stewards of our clients’ assets, we are constantly exploring ways, including leveraging technology, to enhance our investment recommendations to better serve the complex investment needs of our clients,” Melvyn Yeo, executive partner, Thirdrock Group, said. 

There are more than 7,000 investors involved in Fundnel, including Vickers Ventures Partners and Temasek-backed Dymon Asia Ventures, as well as DBS. It has analysed more than 1,500 businesses, resulting in more than $100 million-worth of deals in two years. The firm expanded in Australia this year and is looking to push into Malaysia. The organisation describes itself as a licensed private investment platform that offers unlisted securities in growth and pre-IPO stage companies across industries to a qualified network of investors, comprising of both professional – corporate venture, private equity, venture capital funds, family offices, angel investor networks – and individually accredited investors actively looking to diversify their current portfolio.