Questions,
answered

Pre-seed and seed. We aim to be the first institutional investor in the company, often before there is a product, revenue or a full team.

Our first cheque is typically between US$250K and US$1.5M, depending on the stage and what the company needs to reach its next milestone. We keep capital aside to follow on in later rounds.

Yes. We're comfortable leading or co-leading pre-seed and seed rounds, setting terms and helping bring in other investors where that helps the company.

Machine learning, AI for science (biology, chemistry, materials, climate, physics) and developer infrastructure. Within those areas, we spend a lot of our time with university spinouts.

No. We're based in Singapore and know the research ecosystem across Asia especially well, but we invest wherever strong technical founders are building.

No. We favour deep technical advantage over early revenue. At pre-seed, a strong paper, benchmark, dataset or working prototype tells us more than early sales do.

Something a well-funded competitor couldn't easily copy in six months: a new method, proprietary data, a hard-to-hire team, or years of accumulated research. We want to understand why your approach works, not just that it does.

Yes. Many of the founders we back are first-time founders coming out of a PhD, postdoc or research team. Turning research into a product, making a first hire and finding a clear market is exactly the work we help with.

We focus on three things: scoping the first product from the research, recruiting the first key hire, and defining the market (who buys, why, and what they pay). We also help with fundraising, introductions to customers and later-stage investors, and the operational basics of running a company.

Not necessarily. We've backed solo technical founders. If you're looking for a co-founder or first hire, we can help with that search.

Yes. We've worked through technology transfer processes before and can help you understand the options: licence terms, equity splits, and how to structure the company so it can be funded later.

Earlier than you think. Many good conversations start before anyone has left their position. We can help you plan the timing, the spinout process and the first raise.

Often, yes. Many spinouts have faculty founders in advisory or part-time roles alongside a full-time CEO. We'll help you find a setup that works for the company and for your institution.

Email pitch@b12vc.com with a short note on what you're building, a link to your paper, repository or demo, and a deck if you have one. A warm introduction is welcome but not required. We read everything.

We aim to give a clear answer within a few weeks of a first meeting. Our diligence is technical first, so expect detailed questions about your methods, data and results.

Generally no, like most venture firms. We treat what you share with us confidentially. If you need to protect something sensitive, share the results first and the method later.

Yes. If we've met, we'll tell you clearly why we're passing, so it's useful as you continue to raise.