Leadership

FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL

Kane Black

Kane Black is the founder and principal of Severn Capital and a Singapore-based investor, entrepreneur and public markets executive with a cross-border track record spanning Southeast Asia, Japan, Hong Kong and the UK.

Having lived and worked in Asia for more than 20 years, and now based in Singapore as a Permanent Resident, Kane works with founders, boards and investors on private investments, listed-company transactions and cross-border opportunities involving London capital markets.

He is fluent in Japanese and began his career in Tokyo with Adtec Corporation K.K., then listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Jasdaq. He served as Director for the UK and Europe and was involved in the acquisition of Adtec Corporation by Shinden Hightex Corporation in 2005.

In 2009, Kane moved into healthcare investing with a Hong Kong-based family office, focusing on medical devices, diagnostics and therapeutics. In 2012, he co-founded Nova Satra Health and later established Nova Satra Dx in Singapore, backed by Genting Berhad.

In 2019, Nova Satra Dx merged with INEX Innovations Exchange in a US$72 million transaction, creating INEX Innovate. As Chief Executive Officer, Kane led the growth of its diagnostics and laboratory platform, including women's health, molecular diagnostics and a CAP-accredited next generation sequencing laboratory in Singapore. The transaction was backed by institutional investors including Genting Berhad and Enterprise Singapore.

In 2020, Kane joined the NUS Medicine International Council, and in 2022 received the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Singapore award in the Biotechnology category.

In 2024, Kane transitioned to the Board of INEX Innovate as a Non-Executive Director and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of London Stock Exchange listed Ikigai Ventures Limited.

At Ikigai, he led the company's transaction strategy, culminating in its combination with Dotlines Group and Audra Solutions and the admission of Dotlines Global Limited to AIM. The enlarged group was admitted under the ticker DOTL with a market capitalisation of c. £57.9 million, creating a UK and Southeast Asia focused technology platform spanning digital infrastructure, telecoms, cybersecurity and fintech, with operations across the UK, Singapore and Malaysia.

Through Severn Capital, Kane works on private investments and transactions involving London-listed vehicles, including reverse takeovers, acquisitions, capital raises and cross-border opportunities. Severn has interests across medical and laboratory assets, healthcare technology, technology-led businesses and selected real estate.

Severn Capital has also advised, and has been appointed as Strategic Adviser to, London-listed acquisition companies seeking suitable targets, transaction structures and capital-market pathways.