Leading Singapore-based investment group, Whampoa Group, is reportedly planning to increase investments in digital assets by deploying around $100 million in startups focusing on the segment via a venture capital fund.

For the record, Whampoa Group is a co-founded establishment by Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first PM, his wife, and Ms. Amy Lee, a senior partner at Singapore law firm Lee and Lee, founded by her father, Lee Kim Yew.

Other co-founders include Mr. Lee Han Shih, who is a member of a business lineage that co-founded companies like Lee Rubber Group and OCBC.

Family offices are often less regulated than standard companies and are also some of the biggest players looking to foray into alternative investments.

The wealthy in Singapore are especially embracing tokens, aiding the Bitcoin trading push in DBS Group Holdings' digital exchange, which serves family offices as well as institutional investors.

But at the same time, authorities have been continuously discouraging retail investors from betting on digital assets.

Shaw Chan, one of the co-founders and CEO of Whampoa Group, stated in an interview that the investment group has been planning to raise $50 million for a hedge fund for crypto investments.

Whampoa is also looking for strategic partners for the fund, with Chan adding that it has been discussing the matter with regional family offices and top Chinese internet firms.

Reports suggest that the group’s digital assets investment arm, Whampoa Digital, will incubate and invest in early-stage startups related to Web3.

Chan stated that the company believes there is great certainty in this segment, and the VC fund will help the firm to expand its footprint in this space.

He added that the fund is likely to launch in the next quarter and has received strong inquisitiveness from Asian business groups and Chinese tech firms.

The fund will invest in equity and tokens of services and products that allow for and ease mass adoption of Web3.

Aureole Foong, Senior Partner, Whampoa Group, stated that although cryptocurrencies saw a rough year, there is an immense potential for long-term growth for startups involved in decentralized finance applications.

Source credit: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/singapores-whampoa-group-to-invest-1405m-via-fund-for-digital-assets