Partnerships Lead

The Partnerships Lead is the engine behind the studio's relationship quality. While the Head of Studio opens doors and closes capital, the Partnerships Lead makes sure those relationships deepen, produce value, and keep people wanting to stay involved.

This is not an account management role. It is a creative, analytical, partnership-building role for someone who understands that key partners stay engaged when they see something worth being part of, and have the right degree of ongoing engagement.

The role sits at the intersection of funder engagement, ecosystem development, and value chain players. In Year 1, it carries meaningful responsibility for building the funder and investor relationships that will provide the capital for the studio and our ventures. In conjunction, the Partnerships Lead will identify and foster other strategic relationships in the ecosystem including research organisations to help feed the venture pipeline, and value chain players interested in acquiring or licencing the technology we bring to market.

The role reports directly to the Head of Studio.

• Build and sustain multifaceted relationships with funders that go well beyond transactional reporting — funders should feel genuinely connected to the studio's work and impact.
• Design and execute stakeholder and ecosystem engagement: develop joint assets, research, data, and evidence that give funders something real and meaningful to see.
• Manage the working-level relationship with LP and funder teams — feeding progress, evidence, and impact into the funder relationship so the Studio Director can focus on principal-level engagement.
• Keep the fundraising pipeline moving and converting, including through events and ecosystem moments where the studio's story can be told.

• Own Year 1 exit-path groundwork: build the studio's early relationships with the key corporates, strategic players, and CVCs in Southeast Asian agrifood that represent future acquirers and co-investors for studio ventures.
• Maintain a live pipeline of corporate and strategic relationships, tracking seniority, warmth, and studio/venture fit.

• Represent the studio at industry events, ecosystem forums, and stakeholder events across SEA.
• Build the studio's profile with universities, research institutions, and sector networks that are sources of future venture flow.

• Work with key contacts in Beanstalk (leadership and Marcomms) to define the studio's impact measurement and reporting framework — and keeping it current as the portfolio grows.
• Ensure impact is visible, transparent, and credible to both philanthropic funders and impact-oriented LPs.
• Translate portfolio progress into clear, evidence-based funder communications.

In the first 12 months, we will consider this role a success if you have:

• Built active, multi-touchpoint relationships with the studio's core funder base — funders who feel informed, valued, and genuinely part of what the studio is building.
• Established a working impact framework — measurable, transparent, and trusted by funders as an honest picture of progress.
• Mapped and made meaningful contact with the top corporates and CVCs in SEA agrifood that represent realistic future acquirers or co-investors for studio ventures.
• Built the pipeline and tooling assets that provide visibility, data, and insight on funding and relationship status — materially contributing to the studio's momentum toward its Year 1 capital targets.
• Built a recognisable presence for the studio in the SEA agtech ecosystem — known to the right universities, networks, and sector organisations.

You are a relationship builder at heart — but one who brings rigour, process, and analytical depth to the craft. You know that strong relationships are built on transparency, consistent follow-through, and giving people something worth being connected to.

You have worked in or around the startup and venture ecosystem — not uniquely in a corporate partnership role, but somewhere close to where things are built and funded. You understand how impact has to be measured and made visible, and you build that transparency into your work by instinct.

You are comfortable on a stage when the moment calls for it, but you know that the real work happens in the follow-up, the data, and the ongoing cultivation.

• ~8 years of experience in strategic partnership formation, ecosystem development, or funder engagement.
• Proven track record building long-term, multi-dimensional partnerships — not one-off transactions.
• Strong analytical and process skills — you own a pipeline, track relationships with rigour, and build transparent reporting.
• An existing network in SEA agrifood, impact investment, or development finance that accelerates relationship-building.
• Singapore-based with genuine regional presence and cultural credibility in Southeast Asia.

• Background in a startup, venture, or impact investment ecosystem — titles such as Head of Startups, Ecosystem Manager, or Foundation Programme Manager.
• Experience in impact management — measuring, tracking, and communicating impact credibly to funders and investors.
• Public speaking ability — comfortable representing the studio at sector events and ecosystem forums.
• Familiarity with blended finance structures and how philanthropic and impact capital operate alongside equity.
• Fluency in a Southeast Asian language — not required, but a meaningful signal of genuine regional commitment.