Partnerships Lead

Wavemaker Partners; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Wavemaker Partners in Singapore is seeking a VP, Corporate Partnerships to drive fundraising, ecosystem partnerships, and DPI outcomes across portfolio and partners. You'll generate capital opportunities, map corporate partners, and orchestrate introductions that convert into customers, lenders, co-investors, or potential exits, while working closely with portfolio founders and the General Partner team.

You are a seasoned connector with 8+ years in partnerships or related fields, comfortable

Qualifications

• 8+ years in partnerships, business development, VC, investment banking, consulting or ecosystem roles.
• Track record of generating and closing capital relationships, not just warm intros.
• Deep financial literacy, including asset liquidation and DPI concepts.
• Experience across founders, operators and corporates with executive-level engagement.
• Strong business sense to identify and activate commercially viable opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Generate top-of-funnel capital candidates for Wavemaker and portfolio companies from financial and strategic investors.
• Surface fundraising conversations as part of relationship-building efforts.
• Map and nurture corporate ecosystem partners to accelerate traction and exits.
• Facilitate strategic introductions between portfolio companies and corporates (customers, lenders, co-investors, acquirers).
• Secure commercial contracts for portfolio companies from corporates.
• Partner with the General Partner to drive execution across partnerships and fundraising workstreams.
• Maintain a rigorous, structured pipeline from introduction to outcome.

Skills

Partnerships

Business Development

Venture Capital

Investment Banking

Strategic Relationships

Job description

Wavemaker is Southeast Asia’s leading early-stage venture capital firm investing in enterprise and deep tech companies that offer innovative solutions and add significant value. Over the last 13 years, we have invested in over 200 companies and our thesis has remained the same:

We invest in thoughtful founders who have built an internal conviction through experience and reflection and identified a huge opportunity because they see things differently from most other people.

We invest in scalable, capital-efficient, sustainable businesses that aim to create significant value by solving meaningful problems 10x better than existing options.

Today, we’re a team of 40+ incredibly driven and passionate people in the region, and we are looking for a VP, Corporate Partnerships to join our team.

What you'll do

This role sits at the intersection of Wavemaker, our portfolio startups, and ecosystem partners — generating capital for Wavemaker and its portfolio companies, and connecting startups and corporates to accelerate outcomes for both.

• Generate top-of-funnel capital candidates for Wavemaker across all fund strategies
• Generate top-of-funnel capital candidates for managed portfolio companies, from both financial and strategic investors
• Surface and advance fundraising conversations as a natural extension of the broader relationship-building work
• Develop a deep understanding of Wavemaker's portfolio companies, including growth drivers, strategic gaps, and potential exit pathways
• Identify and map corporate ecosystem partners that can accelerate portfolio traction, fundraising, and exit
• Facilitate strategic introductions between portfolio companies and corporates that may become customers, lenders, co-investors, or acquirers
• Secure commercial contracts for portfolio companies from corporates

Ecosystem Mapping and Development

• Build and maintain a structured map of corporate ecosystem players relevant to Wavemaker's investment themes and portfolio needs
• Develop and nurture executive-level relationships with key decision-makers across corporate partners

Scaled Exits Support

• Support the scaled-exits effort to liquidate assets from non-fund-returners in older funds, contributing to Distributed to Paid-In (DPI) performance
• Apply financial literacy to assess asset value and viable exit routes for these positions

Project Management

• Partner closely with the General Partner to drive execution across active partnership, fundraising, and DPI workstreams
• Bring structure and rigor to a fast-moving, relationship-heavy pipeline, ensuring nothing valuable is lost between an introduction and its outcome

Who you are

• You have 8+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, venture capital, investment banking, consulting/corporate strategy, or a related ecosystem-facing role.
• You are a hunter: you have a track record of generating and closing capital relationships — from your own network, from cold outreach, or through structured fundraising processes — not just facilitating warm introductions.
• You have deep financial literacy, including comfort assessing and structuring the liquidation of assets from older fund vintages (scaled exits / DPI).
• You have been deeply embedded across founders, operators, and corporates, with a track record as a trusted connector in the ecosystem.
• You have a strong understanding of and curiosity towards business models and commercial drivers, in order to pitch opportunities credibly (both to startups and corporates).
• You are commercially minded, with a strong instinct for identifying and activating opportunities that create tangible outcomes.
• You are highly adaptable and can operate across multiple priorities and evolving scope with ownership and accountability.
• You are a strong communicator with executive presence and the ability to engage senior stakeholders effectively.
• You are relationship-driven and genuinely motivated to help founders and corporate partners succeed.