Welcome again, everyone to a special Towkay Talk this week.
Towkay Talk is a deep dive into the intangibles of a company (aside from their reports and statistics) by talking to the key people behind the scenes.
Most Singapore investors have never heard of The Trendlines Group, despite it being SGX-listed. It builds and invests in early-stage medtech and agrifood companies, with backers like Corteva and Mondelēz, yet its non-IFRS portfolio value of US$146 million sits well above its market cap, and management says several individual holdings could each be worth more than the whole company.
After a hard strategic reset, Trendlines returned to profit in FY2025 and stayed there through H1 2026. We sat down with CEO Haim Brosh to unpack that valuation gap, how a retail investor should actually value a business like this, and which portfolio companies he's most excited about.
Mr. Haim Brosh - CEO of The Trendlines Group
Haim Brosh doesn't fit the typical venture CEO mould. He took the helm at The Trendlines Group in October 2023 carrying 25 years of finance leadership, not a background in dealmaking - stints as CFO at SHL Telemedicine, Elul Tamarynd and Amdocs before running his own show at ACP Ltd.
That finance-first instinct shows: since taking over, he's driven a hard-nosed reset at Trendlines, cutting non-core activities, tightening costs, and raising capital, that returned the company to profit in FY2025.
Let’s see what’s going on!
Q1: Trendlines isn't widely covered in Singapore. For readers meeting the company for the first time, what does Trendlines actually do?
The Trendlines Group is an Israel- and Singapore-based investment company that builds and invests in high-potential medtech and agrifood companies. Most of our portfolio companies are Israel-domiciled, while Trendlines is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
We combine capital with hands-on expertise, strategic partnerships and a global network to help our portfolio companies scale, commercialize their products and create meaningful value, with a view to achieving successful exits.
Q2: Trendlines returned to profit in FY2025 and stayed profitable in H1 2026. What changed internally to make that happen, and what would you point to as the decision that mattered most?
Since 2023, Trendlines has been implementing a clear strategic shift: focusing our resources on our existing portfolio while optimizing the Group’s operations. This strategy has culminated in four key actions:
1. Focus of Resources on Portfolio Companies
We have sharpened our focus on actively monitoring and supporting our portfolio, conducting in-depth diligence and allocating resources to the companies with the greatest potential to deliver significant exits.
2. Rationalization of Non-Core Activities
We ceased investing in new portfolio companies and discontinued activities that were not aligned with our strategic focus. This included the cessation and transfer of our internal R&D unit, Trendlines Innovation Labs, the transfer of management of the Trendlines Agrifood Fund, and the consolidation of activities across the Group.
3. Cost Optimization and Efficiency Enhancement
We implemented a comprehensive cost optimization program that has already delivered positive results, with further benefits expected in the coming years.
4. Raising Capital
We completed a number of capital raises during 2025, leveraging the renewed confidence demonstrated by our shareholders. This has strengthened our ability to deploy capital into mature portfolio companies, helping bring them closer to exit while maintaining percentage holdings.
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Q3: You've said the value is in the portfolio rather than the income statement. For a retail investor looking at Trendlines, how should they actually value this company?
Our value is fundamentally driven by the strength and potential of our portfolio.
We provide visibility into changes in portfolio value through our financial statements. While we do not disclose the valuation of individual portfolio companies, we group them into clusters and provide a valuation for each cluster, making it relatively easy for investors to follow changes in value over time.
Importantly, a number of our strongest portfolio companies could individually be worth more than Trendlines’ total market capitalization. We believe this highlights the significant potential embedded in our portfolio.
Q4: Three of your larger holdings have taken money from strategic investors and corporates such as Corteva into IBI Ag, Mondelēz into Celleste Bio, Colorcon Ventures into Phytolon. How and why have these investments come about?
These investments are the result of the close relationships we build and maintain with strategic investors and leading corporates. These connections are a key part of how we develop and support our portfolio companies.
The investments themselves are also an important validation of the quality of these businesses and the confidence that leading strategic investors have placed in the companies in which they have invested.
Q5: Which companies are you most excited about over the next two to three years?
We have a number of companies making excellent progress. To name a few: Phytolon, ElastiMed, EcoPhage, Limaca, Celleste, Escala and IBI Ag.
The list could be longer, as our portfolio is dynamic and companies can mature or reach important milestones quickly. Our focus is on identifying those with the potential to create significant value and move meaningfully closer to commercialization and exit.
Q6: What does the exit pipeline look like, and what are the signals investors should watch for?
As we always remind investors, companies are bought, not sold. It is therefore difficult to map out a formal exit pipeline, as timing depends on many factors that are outside our control.
The signals investors should watch are meaningful milestones that move companies closer to market and create tangible, measurable value. As companies demonstrate commercial progress, their value becomes increasingly visible and easier for potential acquirers to assess.
Q7: Non-IFRS portfolio value of US$146 million sits well above your market capitalisation. Why do you think the valuation gap is so wide?
The IFRS valuation takes a highly conservative approach. The non-IFRS valuation incorporates additional information and therefore differs from the IFRS fair value at which we carry our investments on the balance sheet. It is calculated based on recent transactions involving our portfolio companies over the last 12 months, including Share Purchase Agreements and SAFE agreements.
These transactions can value companies differently. For example, a SAFE agreement typically includes a 20–30% discount to a subsequent financing round.
The gap therefore represents the significant potential between a conservative book valuation and valuations that are closer to market-based indications. And even the non-IFRS valuations do not necessarily capture the full potential of some of our portfolio companies, which could ultimately be worth multiple times their current book value.
Q8: What would you most like Singapore investors to understand about Trendlines that they currently don't?
We believe Trendlines is at a particularly interesting point in its evolution.
Several of our portfolio companies have now reached maturity, yet this progress is not fully reflected in Trendlines’ current company value. That disconnect is where we see the potential.
Our focus is now on leveraging the progress already achieved across the portfolio, supporting our mature companies toward meaningful milestones and ultimately exits, while unlocking value for our shareholders.
Trendlines' story isn't in the income statement; it's in a portfolio only now reaching maturity. The FY2025 return to profit reflects a deliberate reset, not luck. That US$146 million valuation gap won't close by itself; it closes when companies like Phytolon and Celleste hit their next milestones. Whether Trendlines becomes a value-unlocking story or a value trap comes down to execution. Either way, it's a name worth watching.
If you want to check out the company, head on over to their website here for more information.
Regards
James Yeo
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