Start-up and venture capital – Local firms
Rising stars
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Leading Individuals
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Allen & Gledhill LLP
Partner and Co-Head of the Firm’s Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions Department
Dentons
Sunil Rai is a senior partner in Dentons Rodyk’s Corporate practice group. He is co-head of the Venture Tech & Emerging Growth Companies practice group. He is also co-head of the India practice group which works on outbound and inbound India-related transactions . Sunil concentrates his practice in corporate and transactional matters encompassing investments and exits (buyouts, trade sales), domestic and cross border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, licensing, corporate governance, restructuring of entities, employment law matters including formulating stock option/ share award schemes (ESOP/ ESAS), establishing new businesses and assisting clients in drafting and reviewing contracts across a broad spectrum of various industries, verticals and government sectors. Sunil is particularly experienced in complex investment and venture-backed transactions involving multiple parties, various shareholders and parties across several jurisdictions. He enjoys acting for institutional investors (family offices, venture capital funds and private equity investors) making investments and divestments and start-ups/ early stage entities receiving investments at all stages of a company’s life-cycle - from seed stage to advanced stages such as Series D and beyond. Sunil has a strong interest in investment-related work (involving venture capital and private equity), building up the Israel, Middle East and India - Singapore deal corridor and also enthusiastically assisting in the growth of various SMEs, start-ups and private funds through establishing new ventures, handling legal issues, fund-raising, managing of investments and value creation. Sunil has given several presentations and written articles on business structures, investment term sheets, essentials of contracts, corporate fraud, mergers regime under Competition Act of Singapore, Personal Data Protection Act and amendments to Companies Act of Singapore and the Variable Capital Company regime. He has also been actively involved in pro bono activities for several years including being a grassroots leader and also an active mediator with Community Mediation Centre and Consumer Association of Singapore and mentoring startups at Singapore University of Social Sciences. Sunil also volunteered as a judge at the International Mediation Competitions organised by SIMI in 2019 and 2020.
Dentons
S Sivanesan is a senior partner and head of Dentons Rodyk's Corporate practice group. He is also Co-Head of the Environment, Natural Resources & Sustainability practice, Venture Tech & Emerging Growth Companies practice and the Singapore-India relationship partner. Sivanesan's primary areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and restructurings, venture capital, venture technology, investment funds and general corporate commercial matters. He has advised several fund managers, venture capital funds, founders, start-ups and companies on investment deals. Sivanesan's international work includes cross-border and regional transactions, mergers and acquisitions, VC/PE investment deals in South East Asia, India, China, Japan, Europe, Australia and USA. He has worked with local and foreign clients in establishing businesses in Singapore and the region, transactional matters, foreign direct investment, liaising with regional counsel and establishing effective corporate structures for global operations. He is widely regarded as an authority on corporate governance and venture capital. Sivanesan is a past chairman of the Pacific Rim Advisory Council, which is an association of 28 top tier independent law firms with more than 12,000 lawyers in more than 50 key business centres around the world. Sivanesan has addressed regional and international business leaders at conferences and seminars, on topics relating to venture technology, international mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, venture capital and cross border investments. He is a past Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Singapore Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS). He is currently the independent Chairman of Liberty Insurance Pte Ltd and Liberty Specialty Markets Singapore Pte Limited, members of the Liberty Mutual Group.