'INNOVATION WAVES ASIA'

A growing number of high-technology firms in Asia are developing their own intellectual property [IP], as they come up with products and services for their businesses.

This presents an opportunity for investors eager to tap the future growth of companies that offer unique propositions and groundbreaking inventions.

While tech giants such as  Apple and Google often come to mind for their IP related products and services, innovative firms in Asia are slowly gaining market share.

According to the latest World Intellectual Property Organization statistics, the highest number of applications for patents, utility models, trademarks and industrial design were filed in-

 Asia in 2015, making up 61.9% of all such applications worldwide.

Two Singapore based funds have recognised this trend and are eager to invest in Asian start-ups with  IP or start-ups that want to expand into Asia.

Private Equity Firm Leonie Hill Capital announced in October that it would launch a co-investment  fund with Japanese sovereign patent fund, IP Bridge, to invest in Asian deep technology start-ups with the potential to generate IP.

The S$1 billion Makara Innovation Fund was launched in April by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and private equity firm Makara Capital, to target companies in Asia that already have IP and the potential to grow.

Makara Capital CEO Ali ijaz Ahmed says the firm decided do this because it seeks IP  as a creator of value and a competitive advantage for companies.

''Look at the S&P 500, for example, we find that increasingly it is intangible assets that are driving a significant majority of the enterprise value, in fact-

87% of the index's market capitalization is driven by intangible assets such as-

Patents, trademarks and know-how, as opposed to traditional physical assets such as land, factories and labour,'' he adds.