500 startups has appointed a Managing Partner for Southeast Asia. It is Khailee Ng, a Malaysian expert, who succeeded in capturing the attention of the Silicon Valley’s giant. From now on, Ng will be responsible for the startup’s investment in the region, including in Indonesia. Besides appointing Ng, 500 Startups also delegated its business in South America to Bedi Yang.
Before joining 500 Startups, Ng had successfully established two prominent startups, GroupsMore which has been acquired by Groupon and SAYS.com which has merged with REV Asia Bhd. For the past seven months, Ng has invested more than 30 times in Southeast Asia. This excellent track record has eventually assured 500 Startups to entrust him the business in the region.
In Indonesia, 500 Startups has contributed to the funding of Qraved and Bukalapak.
“The best entrepreneurs may come out of nowhere, and they can serve people everywhere. You need the combination of local wisdom and global platform to back them up. And Khailee has everything it takes to help 500 Startups growing in Southeast Asia,” Dave McClure, the Founding Partner of 500 Startups, stated.
Further, 500 Startups isn’t the first venture capital (VC) that gets captivated by the massive development shown by Southeast Asian startups. Another Silicon Valley-based VC, Fenox, has also upgraded its involvement in the region, including by partnering with Indonesia’s Telkom in developing the Indigo Fenox program. In the region, the VC will compete with other VCs from Japan and other countries which, indeed, highly regarded Southeast Asia as the next big thing.
500 Startups is well-known for its famous incubator which has helped 850 startups all over the world to grow. Interestingly, a quarter of those 850 are based outside the U.S. “It’s time to guide the entrepreneurs to global funding, mentoring, and network. I don’t see why we can’t establish a global company here in Southeast Asia,” McClure emphasized.
