In a technology-driven economy hastened by Covid-19, Peak Group’s Chairman Anthony Wong sees great opportunity in investing in the cyber-security sector
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In the blink of an eye, Covid-19 threw everyone into the world of tele-working, zoom meetings and online classes. One investor sees this as an opportunity for companies with ready core capabilities to thrive, particularly in the area of cyber-security.
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Adapting to the changing landscape
Active in investment activities in Southeast Asia since 2008, Mr Wong founded Peak Group in the same year.
| Mr Wong has led the company in various investments in Southeast Asia, featuring some of the most successful names in Asia such as Grab, WeDoctor and Duiba. And there are several promising companies in gaming, digital marketing, blockchain, fintech and cyber-security. |
He works with investee companies to help them become a leader in their respective industries while also helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams by providing invaluable advice on management, operations and finance post the investment.
Mr Wong’s keen investing eye has helped investee companies identify areas with great opportunity, one example being FinTech in India where he made several investments during the second half of 2019. His decision was a right call as India accounted for the highest fintech adoption rate (87%), out of all the emerging markets in the world as of March 2020.
Under his leadership, Peak Group achieved a compound annual growth rate of more than 20% in investment returns for 10 straight years.
While the company initially started out by focusing on Venture Capital, Private Equity, M&A and Real Estate Investments, it has recently increased its focus on technology as big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence have increasingly penetrated the real economy.
The pandemic has hastened the adoption of such technology and created plenty of opportunities.
TOFFS Technologies, a company that Peak invested in 2016, put its years of efforts in R&D in good use as demand for cyber-security soared. Peak Group has become a major investor of TOFFS since.
TOFFS ranked No.21 amongst Singapore's Fastest Growing Companies 2019 and was appointed as one of the six companies in the GovTech multimillion three-year bulk tender by the Singapore government for the provision of DDoS mitigation services in 2017. Indeed, TOFFS has experienced an increased demand for its MCDN solutions, driven by both strong fundamentals and the exponential growth in demand for network services as a result of the pandemic. TOFFS also recently launched its proprietary video conferencing application, TOFFS MEET, a cloud-based app that supports secure video conferencing and remote collaboration solutions, in response to the increased need for telecommuting in many countries. Since the launch, response has been very favourable by the target community. |
Mr Wong said that “intensified cyber-attacks during Covid-19 would accelerate the demand for results-proven, comprehensive network security services” and that “a seamless, high-quality digital experience in a safe and secure environment would become an essential necessity for billions of users globally as more aspects of life move online.”
Singapore’s Cyber Security market was estimated by Infocomm Media Development Authority to have the potential to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10-13% to achieve a market size of US$2.4 billion in 2030.
Networking
Mr Wong attributes the success of Peak Group to his investment philosophy of “helping partners achieve their goals and realize their dreams”.
He is fully committed to helping mature companies reach the top of their industry and assist them in remaining competitive through changing times. He also provides long-term development opportunities for many start-ups with high potential and helps them mature.
He stands by his motto of “investing in people”. He believes that “an entrepreneur’s drive and passion, his beliefs and his business philosophy” are the most important and would only place his trust in companies that “value transparency, trustworthiness and fairness.”
His charisma has led him to establish wide connections in the Asia Pacific region with investments in Singapore, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Aside from managing the company, Mr Wong is actively involved in charity. He is a committee member of Ten Percent Donation Scheme Foundation, which helps poor children in Hong Kong and Mainland China to fight poverty and give them a better learning environment. He was a grassroots leader and a member of the Citizens’ Consultative Committee in the People’s Association in Singapore.
A firm believer in giving back to society, he has also volunteered in Circles of Hearts by the National Kidney Foundation of Singapore and made donations to the Singapore Kindness Movement.“I aim to improve people’s lives through the spirit of giving and enabling and I believe that charity is a direct way to reach this goal,” he says.
