Anuj Khanna Sohum, Chairman, Affle
Founder and CEO of Affle, Anuj Khanna Sohum, isn’t often in the media limelight. I only got to know him through Affle’s PR firm after his company recently raised $10 million from D2C. In Singapore, there aren’t many funding rounds that cross the $5 million mark so Anuj’s case is rare.
During a one-to-one interview with him last year, I came to learn a lot from Anuj, who humbly shared his startup experience. He founded Affle in 2006. Prior to that he started Anitus Technologies, his first company, at the age of 20 while studying at the National University of Singapore. Anitus Technologies was later acquired by Malaysian conglomerate MCSB. SecLore was his second company which was subsequently acquired by Herald Logic in 2007.
We also discussed the point that entrepreneurs nowadays are focused on raising as much money as possible. But to Anuj, getting the money from strategic partners is equally, if not more, crucial. That point from him was pretty enlightening and he backed up his words with actions.
Affle’s investors are Microsoft, Itochu, D2C, and Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd. — none of them are from venture capital funds. Money is only used as a means to cement the working relationship between Affle and the investing company.
Anuj is serious in building Affle as a long-term venture. So choosing the right investors, or rather raising funds from strategic partners, is important to avoid being pressured to sell the company after achieving certain milestones. There’s so much more knowledge and experience that we can draw from him – and you can catch him on-stage at our Startups in Asia conference on February 3. Anuj will be on from 12 noon to 12:30pm, sipping coffee with me while discussing how entrepreneurs can raise funds from strategic partners.