Investing in Technology to Enhance Impact in a Post-COVID World
Tuesday, 8th of September 2020
3:00 pm SGT
Asia has become a sweet spot for investors and businesses globally. Home to over half of the world’s population, the US$31 trillion economy is fuelled by rapid population growth, increasingly tech-savvy consumers, and a growing digital economy. While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions and uncertainty in the economy, technology and impact investors have remained active and taken a more responsible approach into a more ESG driven portfolio. According to Tech in Asia, 2019 saw US $7.7 billion in investments in Southeast Asia tech firms with a significant increase in the number of smaller deals. As technology intersects with numerous other sectors such as gender, education, agriculture, financial services, energy and livelihoods, investing in technology remains vital to amplify impact across Asia. Please join the conversation surrounding investment trends in a post-COVID World with a focus on early stage technology companies in Asia. The webinar will feature notable regional investors and AVPN members, Openspace Ventures and Teja Ventures.
Openspace Ventures is a prominent Southeast Asia focused VC which has impact firmly embedded in their portfolio. Their existing portfolio companies, such as Gojek, Halodoc, Topica and Biofourmis are already solving vital problems in their respective geographies and improving the lives of many. They are driving financial inclusion, creating decent work, accelerating sustainable agriculture, and expanding access to healthcare and education across underserved populations in Southeast Asia. Openspace’s sector agnostic investment strategy allows them to have a diverse portfolio spanning a wide range of industries including finance, education, health, agriculture, and energy.
Teja Ventures is the first gender lens VC fund for emerging Asia, investing in early stage technology companies for the She Economy. Its investment approach is premised on women as market makers in the internet economy, whether as consumers, online traffic or a mobile workforce, and leveraging technology to scale that potential. Their portfolio companies reflect the core consumption needs revolving around a woman’s life cycle, with a focus on digital distribution, health and wellness and financial inclusion. In a post-covid world, this strategy is proving to be countercyclical, with women being conduits to both new markets and addressing some of the world’s most urgent priorities.
Key Takeaways:
- Gain valuable insight from two key players in the early stage investment in Southeast Asia and deepen understanding on how Covid has affected the way they look at investment opportunities in the region
- Identify the investment trends in a post Covid world
- Understand how technology can be a tool to democratise access to core needs, specifically the role that women and technology can play in solving some of the world’s most urgent challenges
| SPEAKERS |
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Shane Chesson Shane is Founder and Partner of Openspace Ventures, a Singapore-headquartered VC focused on investments in Southeast Asia-based technology companies. Openspace currently manages 3 funds with total committed capital of over US$300M (expected to be more than US$400M by end 2020). Selected Openspace investments overseen by Shane include Gojek, HaloDoc, Whispir, Biofourmis, Finnomena and Tanihub Group. Openspace’s inaugural fund is consistently performing top 5% of VC funds globally according to Cambridge Associates benchmark. As of June 2020, a total of US$6.5 bn follow-on capital has been raised by Openspace portfolio companies. In 2018, Shane was a finalist for Asian VC/PE “Professional of the Year” as coordinated by the Asian Venture Capital Journal. Shane was previously Managing Director and Co-Head (Technology Investment Banking, of Citigroup Asia-Pacific. As a technology banker, he spent over thirteen years advising Asian technology companies and financial sponsors on capital raising and M&A strategies. Over this time, his clients have included strategic players such as Qihoo, Mediatek, Pactera, Acquity, Hisoft, ASE, SAS and sponsors such as Temasek, Khazanah, ATIC, GGV, CVCI and DCM. Shane has acted as advisor on many technology M&A transactions including SaS acquisition of Covalent, sale of Singapore Computer Systems to NCS in 2009 and the private equity buyouts of SPI, Unisteel, MMI and Acument. Prior to his banking career, Shane was a strategy consultant with Bain and Company and GEM Consulting in Australia. Shane has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD Singapore where he was a recipient of the IAA Asian Campus scholarship and a Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Commerce from UWA. He also chairs the Investment Committee for the Aidha Business Accelerator. Aidha is a Singapore-based non-profit which aims to empower and provide opportunities for foreign domestic workers and lower-income women through financial education and entrepreneurship opportunities. |
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Virginia Tan Virginia Tan is the founding partner of Teja Ventures, the first gender lens VC fund for emerging Asia. As a pioneering thought leader for gender and technology in Asia, she founded She Loves Tech, the world’s largest startup competition for women and technology. Virginia Tan is also the founder and former president of Lean In China, one of China’s leading nonprofit platforms for women with over 100,000 members across more than 25 cities and 100 universities in China, which supports the goals and aspirations of Chinese women. Virginia’s background is in law and finance, having worked in Europe, Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America for 2 magic circle firms Clifford Chance and Allen and Overy. She specialised in emerging market investments and has covered more than USD 30 billion of transactions in the course of her career. She moved to Beijing in 2013 to work on strategic investments related to the “One Belt One Road” initiative. Virginia was selected by the Rockefeller Foundation as one of 8 Next Generation Leaders for its Beijing25+ Summit in 2020, named by Fast Company as one of 100 most innovative people in business in China, by Prestige as one of Singapore’s 40 under 40 in 2019, and as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum in 2014. Forbes as hailed her as “removing barriers to global womens empowerment and Fast Company has named her “the Hua Mulan of the business world”. Her work has been featured by leading media such as Forbes, Bloomberg, Financial Times, BBC, China Daily, CCTV, Straits Times, VICE etc. She has spoken at some of the world’s largest corporations and leading institutions such as Alibaba, Baidu, Bloomberg, Dell, Disney, DSM, General Electric, Google, P&G, HP, Medtronic, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Columbia University, UNICEF, UN Women, World Economic Forum, Milken Institute, etc. |
| MODERATOR |
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Jaclyn Seow Jaclyn Seow has a decade of experience in the Singapore public service working on land allocation and healthcare policies. In this period, she represented Singapore in negotiations on global economic growth and development issues, as part of ASEAN and G77 at the United Nations in New York. Thereafter, she joined Raffles Medical Group, a public-listed regional healthcare group with a presence in 14 cities in Asia. Here, she expanded the health insurance portfolio from B2B into the B2C space, generating 7-figure revenues in the first year; and accelerated digital health initiatives, including teleconsultation, as Associate Director of Corporate Development. Jaclyn graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Economics and Psychology (magna cum laude in Economics) on scholarship from the Singapore Government. |
