Investing in transformative life-sciences innovation that improves lives globally
Gold Nest Capital was founded on the belief that innovation in healthcare should know no borders. We connect life-sciences excellence with the vast opportunities of global markets. Our mission is to accelerate the spread of technologies that improve human health and, in doing so, generate meaningful returns for our investors.
Our multidisciplinary and multicultural team combines deep venture-capital experience, scientific understanding, and investment-banking expertise. Together, we bring a disciplined yet entrepreneurial approach to identifying and supporting companies at pivotal stages of growth.
Gold Nest Investment Management Pte. Ltd. is a Singapore incorporated investment manager holding a Capital Markets Services (CMS) license for Fund Management issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Edward Willems is Chief Executive Officer of Gold Nest Capital, a MAS-regulated fund-management platform, and Non-Executive Chairman of Synapto Ventures. He serves on the board of Mimetas B.V. and previously served on the Supervisory Board of Dynamic Biosensors GmbH, which was acquired by Bruker. He also serves as Innovation and Internationalisation Advisor to Biocommunity Kansai (BiocK), supporting Japan’s life-science ecosystem and its global collaboration efforts.
Edward co-founded and successfully exited Renzoku Biologics in Japan, a pioneering CDMO developing fully continuous biomanufacturing for biologics. He also founded Ginward, a life-sciences corporate-finance and advisory platform that later evolved into Synapto Ventures, expanding from advisory services into subscription-based venture creation and capital partnerships for global biotech and innovation companies.
Earlier in his career, Edward spent nearly two decades with the Crédit Agricole Group, holding senior capital-markets leadership roles across London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and continental Europe. He built and scaled capital-markets and fixed-income businesses across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United States, culminating in his appointment as Global Deputy Head of Fixed Income Capital Markets, where he oversaw 1,000+ front-office professionals and a sales budget exceeding EUR 2 billion. He also served as a permanent member of the Group International Committee, contributing to the bank’s global strategy and cross-border expansion.
Edward began his career in Japan as a research engineer at ATR Laboratories, publishing work on speaker-independent speech recognition and advanced signal processing. He holds an MEng in Electronic Engineering (Distinction) from the University of Southampton and an MSc in Signal Processing from École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications in Paris.
Ginger Hsiao is Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Gold Nest Capital and serves as Fund Manager for its European Life Sciences Growth Fund. She is also Co-Founder of Synapto Ventures, a venture-building and advisory platform supporting biotech and health-tech innovators globally.
Ginger sits on the board of St Luke’s Eldercare, where she previously served as Honorary Treasurer and currently serves as the Investment Committee Chair. She has served as a Board Observer to life-science companies including Mimetas B.V. She has held regulated financial licences across Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the United States since1993.
Before her focus in life Sciences, Ginger spent 17 years in global capital markets, beginning her career in New York as a Vice President at Citigroup, where she built a Wall Street foundation - originating, structuring, underwriting, and distributing structured investments for global institutional investors and supranational clients.
She then advanced into senior leadership roles at Crédit Agricole, serving as Managing Director & Head of US Corporate Sales, Head of Structured Finance for Asia, and Head of China Corporates, advising C-suite leaders and developing capital-markets and risk-management strategies for multinational corporates.
Ginger holds a BSc. in Economics, with a concentration in Finance & International Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Mayor Scholar. She is bilingual in English and Mandarin.
Emilien Dugrand is Managing Director of Synapto Ventures where he oversees the company's daily operations, encompassing both client and investor relations, as well as Principal at Gold Nest Capital.
Through Gold Nest Capital, Emilien has leveraged his venture scientist expertise and executed direct investments in private life sciences companies, managing the entire investment process from technical, financial and commercial due diligence to strategic negotiation of investment terms. Beyond investments, Emilien is a hands-on partner for his portfolio companies by supporting their development through strategic partnerships, international expansion, and successful fundraising.
As Director of Ginward, Gold Nest Capital's former corporate finance and consultancy boutique, Emilien spearheaded strategic and financial projects for global life science clients. He has run a large number of successful fundraising campaigns, working closely with C-suite executives, skillfully navigating due diligence processes in collaboration with his clients, and securing committed investors. Furthermore, Emilien is recognised by life sciences VC firms for his ability to pinpoint investment opportunities that perfectly align with their investment thesis.
Prior to his career in the life science VC landscape, Emilien acquired a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical and medical device industries from hands-on experience in business development, marketing and sales at Laboratoires Servier, coupled with consulting roles at industry giants like Philips Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson. His grasp extended to advising digital health and consumer healthcare startups on strategy and operations. Additionally, Emilien possesses firsthand knowledge of both public and private hospital systems, having worked in facilities across France and Ivory Coast.
Emilien is a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of Montpellier, France, with a specialisation in the pharmaceutical industry and is registered with the French National Order of Pharmacists. He holds an Advanced Master Degree in strategy and management of international business (MBA equivalent) from ESSEC Business School, Singapore.
Linh Nguyen is a Managing Director in Synapto Ventures, Principal at Gold Nest Capital and former Director in Ginward.
As Ginward's Director, Linh has been working on company spin-outs, strategic development and international expansions. She has participated in set-up, planning and execution projects at several stages of development of biotech companies: from ideation and founding, to fundraising from seed to growth stages, to international expansion, to commercial deal negotiation and exit planning.
As the Principal of Gold Nest Capital, she sources and evaluates investment proposals within the life science industry. Based on their technical and financial potentials, she and the analyst team will provide investment recommendations for the fund committee.
Linh's investment experience allowed her to work with companies from various fields within life sciences such as drug developers research tools, medical devices, digital health, etc. and even beyond healthcare with agritech, material sciences and green energy.
Prior to Ginward, Linh conducted intensive research in the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A'STAR, Singapore. She focused on investigating gestational diabetes using stem cell and organoid models.
She has published in international journals and presented at several international meetings such as the annual symposiums of the Singapore Stem Cell Society and the International Society for Stem Cell Research annual conferences in Melbourne and Los Angeles.
Linh was awarded a SINGA scholarship for PhD research in the National University of Singapore, as well as a MRes in Medical Biochemistry with First Class Honours from the University of Sheffield, UK.
“European Life Sciences Growth Fund SP builds on the huge potential for Life Sciences offered by the Asian markets, by providing funds to dynamic European companies in the sector and helping them grow in Asia.
By targeting companies that have confirmed commercial successes in their home market, the Fund focuses on those with the best chance of benefitting from an early connection to Asia. With a management team based in Singapore and a panel of experts covering Europe and Asia, the Fund offers a specialized strategy for value creation, building on experience, well-recognized global trends and best-in-class innovation.
The success of the Fund will ensure that investors are rewarded for capitalizing on opportunity, whilst funding the spread of new technologies and treatments to Asia, improving the lives of a wider population. By supporting young Life Science companies at a crucial stage in their development, the Fund is also playing its part in fostering European innovation and entrepreneurship in the sector.”
Mimetas pioneers organ-on-a-chip systems that replicate human tissues and micro-environments, improving drug discovery and reducing reliance on animal testing.
Its unique microfluidic technology, OrganoPlates®, enables testing of compounds in high-throughput on miniaturized organ models. These models show better predictivity as compared to laboratory animals and conventional cell culture models. The OrganoPlate® platform supports 3D cell culture under continuous perfusion and membrane-free co-culture, including epithelial and endothelial boundary tissues.
Dynamic Biosensors (DBS) develops and markets innovative biosensors for studying complex molecular interactions and kinetics, supporting drug discovery in the pharma and biotech industries, as well as in basic and medical research.
The new Dynamic Biosensors heli X cyto instrument performs single-cell Interaction Cytometry (scIC) for kinetic measurements directly on cells, retaining the molecules’ native membrane environment. The heli X + instrument utilizes switch SENSE ® technology, employing DNA nanolevers to functionalize molecules of interest on the chip surface to characterize their binding behavior and kinetics, as well as conformational changes.
The company was acquired by Bruker in October 2024.
BiosanaPharma has developed a highly flexible, comprehensive Continuous Manufacturing (CM) automation platform, suitable for all relevant GMP production scales (50L, 500L, and 2000L).
BiosanaPharma's platform is unit operation-independent, and with integrated automatic sampling and on/at-line analytical, a continuous downstream process (DSP) can be fully implemented within 12 to 18 months.
Renzoku Biologics Co., Ltd., established in 2023, is a contract manufacturer of next-generation biopharmaceuticals. With innovative manufacturing technologies such as continuous production, the company aims to become a CDMO that meets the needs of pharmaceutical companies both in Japan and overseas.
The company was acquired by SiiX Corporation in March 2024.
Synapto Ventures, Gold Nest Capital's corporate finance boutique, empowers life science innovators to reach their full potential by providing strategic financial guidance and unlocking global investment opportunities.
The firm provides Quantum Leap Capital Raising™, a global subscription-based Fundraising package for life Science companies.
