Engaging the tech ecosystem

What started as a simple coffee conversation with Enterprise Singapore, evolved into AirCarbon Exchange – a global carbon exchange with over 187 member firms across 32 different countries. UBS Tech Connect SEA sits down with Thomas McMahon, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of AirCarbon Exchange (ACX) to discuss the voluntary credits markets and the buzz around the rise of this new asset class.

Hear more from Thom on how ACX is enabling investors to participate in this decarbonization effort and make a difference.

Livspace was created to provide affordable end-to-end services for home owners looking to embark on their home improvement journey. Co-founder Anuj Srivastava shares with us how fragmented the industry was when they first started and how Livspace has fixed this to offer a happier experience to home owners.

Kopi Kenangan is a fast growing grab-and-go coffee chain in Indonesia. Armed with a mission to spread their passion for freshly-brewed local coffee from Indonesia to the rest of the world, Kopi Kenangan now operates 600 stores across 45 cities in Indonesia. Hear from co-founder Edward Tirtanata on the progress of Kopi Kenangan's growth and how he relies on technology to grow his firm's footprint.

Greg is not your average tech founder. He is a Spotify-published downtempo beatmaker, founder of the Young Presidents’ Organisation’s Kyiv Chapter and has skippered his sailboat across Asia for 2 years full time. On top of that, he is also the founder of Tonik, Philippines’ first digital bank. Despite being the third-largest economy in Southeast Asia, more than 70% of Philippines 72-million adult population remains unbanked. Armed with a mission to provide an accessible choice to a group of rising middle class Filipinos, Greg started Tonik.

Within 8 months of operation, Greg built Tonik to a valuation of over half a billion and now holds over US$100m in consumer deposits. This record-breaking growth is unseen in the nascent digital banking industry in Philippines. Watch to find out what Tonik is, what it takes to convince an unbanked market to trust a fully-digital institution and Greg’s vision for Tonik.

South-east Asia’s largest tech-powered omni-channel womenswear brand – Love, Bonito designs and manufactures apparel for Asian women. From its humble beginnings as a used clothes blogshop, Rachel Lim, founder of Love, Bonito discusses how the firm has grown and its plans to expand beyond womenswear into health, wellness and more.

Jo Chong from Tech Connect SEA chats with Rachel about her passion for women, her role within the firm and what to expect from Love, Bonito in the coming years.

For our second episode, we shine the spotlight on South-east Asia's superapp, Grab. Grab made global news in April 2021 when they announced their record-setting deal to go public through a US$40 billion SPAC merger. Founded in 2012, Grab now spans 400 cities in 8 countries, providing them with diverse services such as mobility, delivery, e-wallet and micro-insurance..

Nicolo Magni, Head of Global Banking, South-East Asia & India sat down with Peter Oey, CFO of Grab to discuss how the company is readying themselves for the upcoming merger in Q4’2021, and the strategy behind building a superapp.

The first episode of the Tech Connect Dialogue Series features Aaron Tan, Co-Founder & CEO of Carro. With the recent Series C fund raising round, Carro is now one of the most promising unicorns in Singapore. Nicolo Magni, Head of Global Banking, South-East Asia & India discusses with Aaron how his passion started the business, how he used innovation and technology to disrupt the industry, and how his business has evolved and navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India invests in high-growth start-ups seeking their first round of institutional venture capital funding (Seed/ Series A/B) in Southeast Asia and India. It has a long and strong track record of investing in early-stage startups and building champions like Grab, Patsnap, 17Live, Nium, FirstCry, Licious, AsianParent, Validus, Warung Pintar, and others. UBS sits down with Carmen Yuen, General Partner to discuss how Vertex rode through the 2022 “funding winter” and the plans they have for 2023.

With 75% of Wavemaker’s active portfolio startups aligned with at least 1 UNDP Sustainable Development Goal, Wavemaker is committed to working on solutions, not just talking about it.

Hear from Paul Santos and Marie Cheong about their commitment to enabling climate tech solutions in Southeast Asia – having also started the first VC climatech venture builder in SEA with a goal to reduce 10% of global carbon emissions.

Foxmont Capital Partners focuses on founders and partners with them to build something meaningful. Made up of a team of seasoned entrepreneurs and finance professionals with experience in building, managing, and growing businesses in the Philippines, they invest in Filipino-focused or Filipino-founded early stage technology startups that have proven that they can scale effectively and lead the Philippine digital evolution. They strongly believe that if a Filipino startup can succeed in the Philippines, it can succeed anywhere.

“Investing in technology is a little bit like investing in fine wine because it’s not about the price you pay now but the value that you get 10, 20 years from now.”

Not only is he an author of four books on Asia-focused venture capital, a podcast host, a professor, and avid wine-enthusiast, Tan Yinglan is also Founding Managing Partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, a young but thriving Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firm that has backed over 70 emerging and market-leading tech companies including the likes of unicorns Carro, Ajaib, GoTo, Appier coming out of the fast-growing region in just 5 years since inception.

Hear from this ex-civil servant turned successful venture capitalist on how Insignia brings something different to the table and his thoughts on the recent market and impact on the tech industry.

“Investing is like an evening that begins with a Dark ‘N’ Stormy and ends with a Sea Breeze”

Curious to find out more? Join us as Yeoh Choo Guan, Head of Tech Connect APAC SG sits down with Openspace partners Hian Goh, Jessica Huang Pouleur and Shane Chesson as they discuss where they have come from and where they are headed.

With investors and founders facing a tough macro environment B Capital’s Founding General Partner Kabir Narang shares his learnings from over 15 years of investing on how to navigate through obstacles.

In this episode, Yeoh Choo Guan, Head of Tech Connect APAC SG sits down with Kabir to discuss B Capital’s most exciting investments and the resilience, perseverance and strength to not get pulled in by the power of crowd to weather through the current storms both as an investor and founder.

Named as the “Most Consistent Top Performing Venture Capital Fund Manager” in the world by Preqin, East Ventures has made a remarkable 437 investments and more than 40 exits since its inception.

Yeoh Choo Guan, Head of Tech Connect APAC SG, and Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures, discusses his in-depth analysis and various thesis in identifying investing opportunities in South-east Asia. 

In this episode, Nicolo Magni, Head of Global Banking, South-East Asia & India, sits down with Jungle Ventures, one of Southeast Asia’s largest independent venture capital firms based in Singapore to discuss how they have been able to consistently identify start-ups with unicorn potential and their thoughts on the rapid growth of Southeast Asia’s tech industry.  

Watch to learn the secret behind their ability to produce 1 unicorn per quarter.