Charles Wong

The latest Bain-Temasek-Google New e-Eonomy Report 2024 is out. Even as revenue growth slows, the online market in Southeast Asia continues to grow driven by secular trends, with higher EBITA margins for existing players seeking exits in next couple of years, amidst lower private funding environment… Will be interesting to see how after the US elections, alongside China’s efforts to revive its economy, the funding and exit landscape will change given the continued bifurcation and fragmentation of the global economy. A bright spot can only be as bright as the rest of the world allows it to be. One thing is clear - the region will require more (and greener) data centres to sustain the growth of its digital economy! #neweconomy #digitaleconomy #digitalisation #privateequity #venturecapital #seedcapital #southeastasia Bain & Company Google Temasek Keppel DC REIT

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Sliver of hope for Singapore IPO market as karaoke chain mull Catalist listings. Since 2015, Singapore's Goodwill Group has thrived with its multi-entertainment venues. They've grown the "HaveFun Karaoke" chain to 11 top spots and launched the innovative "HaveFun Live Show", the first immersive concert-like venue in Singapore. An Impressive Post-Pandemic Trajectory and leverage on Singapore as the “World's Best MICE City” 🇸🇬 Financial Highlights The group's revenue soared to S$23.9m in FY2023 from S$0.9m in FY2021 - a 25.7x increase, with concurrent improvements in profitability - 1.9x increase in FY2023 from FY2021. Future Plans With the new proceeds raised, Goodwill plans to expand domestically and across SEA, starting with Malaysia, broaden service offerings by creating in-house beers and establishing a food manufacturing facility, and investing in next-generation entertainment technologies. #sgx #singapore #mice #goodwillgroup #singaporetourismboard

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【Temasek’s Bold $10 Billion Investment in India 🇮🇳】 -- A Strategic Move Amid China Slowdown In a move that underscores India’s growing significance on the global investment landscape, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings, has announced plans to invest $10 billion in India over the next three years. 🇨🇳 This ambitious investment comes at a time when the performance of #Chinese markets has been lackluster, underscoring #India’s importance as one of Temasek’s top two preferred markets globally, alongside the #US. 🇸🇬 Looking at Temasek's #trackrecord, it's impressive to note that they have already deployed around $37 billion in India over the past two decades.. 💡As of 2023, India now makes up 7% of Temasek’s global portfolio by underlying assets, up from 4% in 2020. In 2023 alone, they invested a record $3 billion in the country. What stands out to me is their perspective on India's market dynamics: "India has always commanded a premium due to its growth potential. By identifying and investing in the right businesses, consistently achieved returns that justify the higher valuations" "The capital markets and deal sizes in India have been steadily increasing, thanks to the expanding and maturing financial markets. The current high valuations are justified by the potential for above-average returns," Temasek’s #InvestmentStrategy in India will focus on several key areas, including technology, financial services, healthcare, and consumer goods. 🌡️ For instance, Temasek’s portfolio, Sheares Healthcare Group, healthcare investor, recently invested almost $2 billion in Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, Indian leading muli speciality hospital operator, with total stake of 59% (new 41%) at $4.9 billion valuation. This valuation is justified by Manipal’s strong financial performance, including 1) a revenue of around $488 million, 2) an EBITDA margin of 24% for FY 2023, 3) several millions patient as sticky customers and 4) potential for free cash flow generation. Later, they sold 8% stake to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala while holding majority shares. Very successful story and foreseen investment. I reckon their increasing investment in India reaffirms the country's status as a pivotal destination for global investors. As someone keenly observing these developments, it's clear that India's market offers tremendous opportunities, and Temasek’s commitment only strengthens this outlook. Ravi Lambah Alex Lin #startup #Singapore #Investment

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It’s always inspiring to be talking to people who share your vision and understanding of our world’s most complex challenges. Zal Dastur is definitely one of those people! Thank you for having me on The Impact At Scale Podcast With Zal Dastur 🙏 Telling authentic stories about climate is a must for us to catalyse a change in narrative of how we can all do better - and how we can continue preventing and adapting to climate change across all levels of our society. #climateTech #southeastAsia #storytelling

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We believe that 2025/26 will see a resurgence of new generation of fintech and financial innovation opportunities across the economies of #SEAsia and #India. As open data architecture, digital public Infra, cross border solutions, financial innovation across verticals, and digital evolution of SMEs reshape the real economies, we believe that new business models will be born and prevail. Taka Yamada Varun Malhotra Satvik B. Disha Soni Rachel Teow

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Let's talk soon about open innovation and how to expand each culture in global!!

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I’ve been writing lately about what we look for in founders, qualities like grit, resilience, disruptive thinking and an ability to adapt to shifting market and customer dynamics. This also applies to our B Capital team members. We compete for talent in highly competitive and close-knit talent networks. To find the right talent, we have to offer a strong corporate culture and a set of shared values that transcend borders and align with employees’ broader ambitions. That’s why I’m so proud to share Why Business Building in Asia Begins with Talent, a new report from our partners at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that features insights on our talent strategy in Asia from our own Sandi Sadek. The report identifies Talent as the most critical strategic asset in accelerating growth and business building. As B Capital’s Chief People Officer, Sandi has been central to growing our team and building our reputation across Asia and Southeast Asia. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gaRvMBsw

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#SoutheastAsia, with its largely young and internet-savvy population of 670 million, is on track to becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030. Home to globally-leading businesses serving customers in the region and around the world, Southeast Asia also has a suite of innovative and creative enterprises tackling critical social and environmental challenges. In the Edges of Southeast Asia 2024 report, we feature 24 of the region’s most promising businesses. Download the report to: ⚪ Gain insights into #entrepreneurship, business #innovation and creativity in the region. ⚪ Identify high-growth sectors and opportunities. ⚪ Learn from the success stories of rising Southeast Asian companies. Edges of Southeast Asia 2024 is published by the Deloitte Centre for the Edge, together with EDB and the US-ASEAN Business Council.

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As a delegate, the measure of a successful conference is in the side meetings. 💼 🌍✨ Not in high-level discussions on stage, not in symbolic gestures from politicians, and not in the amount of media attention. Side meetings are a leading indicator of the real action that will take place after the event. In the 10 years that I have been attending #Ecosperity, this year was the most impressive. 🌟 Together with 🇺🇸 Frank T. Troise 🇸🇬🇨🇭, our side meetings were prodigious - 🌍 We explored financing plans with emerging climate fund managers. 🌱We discovered new climate-tech and carbon projects.  💡We developed action plans to crowd in finance from channels in our own home country 🇺🇸 . 💪We met old friends from Hong Kong, London, Geneva, and Seoul, and made new ones from Australia, Paraguay, Malaysia, and India. Now the real work begins! Let's go! #singapore #sustainablefinance #netzero #climaterisk #Temasek #Philanthropy Asia Alliance #The Liveability Challenge #ClimateAction #GenZeroSummit2024 #GenZero

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Check out our Q2 Newsletter below!

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"AI will take over almost everything" Someone said this to me the other day, convinced that the main jobs we know today will be taken over by AI not too long from now. While another told me that AI will help scale the efforts of those already doing a good job on their own. So where does AI fit in marketing, and how do AI-driven ecosystems shift the way we create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings that have value for our customers and partners? Thank you SP Jain School of Global Management - Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore & Sydney for inviting me to deliver a keynote on the power of AI-driven ecosystems for marketing. I will be sharing my observations on how some startups have quickly leverage Generative AI capabilities in this ecosystem, what has worked, where are the areas of friction that impede rapid adoption and what possibilities we can look forward to. I invite my friends to join me and the esteem panelists in this Business Conclave on 6th December (next friday). Check out the registration link below before seats run out. I look forward to seeing you and having a vibrant discussion! #AI #AIformarketing #strategy #marketing

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It's been quiet for a while and now back to the field again. After 6 months of strategy brainstorming, we collaborated with several regional Private Equity and Venture Capitals. We are mandated to identify 100 potential regional MSMEs and MSMIs to participate in the new launch pool of the Incubation Fund, the first batch of which has been kicked off at USD500 million. If you are currently in the fundraising mode to drive the business and have the intention to route an IPO in any listing destination, we have an alternative fundraising mode to connect you to the relevant platform. It shortens your fundraising tenure with effective and efficient time resources. Welcome to drop the Business Proposal privately and we shall deal with you within the next 24 hours. The preliminary terms and conditions will be as follows; 1) Latest audited annual revenue > USD5 million; 2) Latest audited profit before taxation > USD1 million; 3) Agree to position the IPO as an exit strategy; 4) Preferably with technology-backed organization; Looking forward to your participation. Cheer.

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We’re excited to welcome Arta Finance and Caesar Sengupta into the fold! Arta has been tapping into the best of both the Silicon Valley and Singapore ecosystems, as part of its dual HQ, to build wealth management offerings for a global audience. If you’re curious about how to leverage innovative tech to grow your portfolio, watch this space! Heng-Tong CHOO Paul Ng, CFA Christine Giam Kenny Ng Roy Chua Alvin Cai Daryl Png #VenturesMadePossible #wealthtech #fintech

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Fresh Off the Press: Our Brand-New Showcase Page is Here! I’m excited to introduce our Showcase Page, hot out of the oven! 🍞 This is where we’ll be serving up fresh insights, practical tips, and strategies for businesses looking to expand into the APAC market. If you’re in fintech, digital payments, AI enterprise tech, or data centers, and have plans (or even just ideas!) about growing in Asia, this page is for you. Here’s what’s on the menu: 💡 Tips for building and scaling great teams. 🌏 Guidance on breaking into new markets. 📊 Trends shaping the future of tech and business in APAC. We’re just getting started, and I’d love your support by following our page below! Thanks for being part of this journey—let’s grow together!

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Got to publish an article with e27 (Optimatic). I wrote this many years ago and updated it. This is an article on why introductions should not be so flippant in Asia. In recent days, I have been travelling across the SEA region connecting with many new business relationships. It is natural for me to direct them to TRIVE's own startups, because I trust my CEOs to handle my relationships with utmost respect. Do have a read to better understand how relationships should be handled in Asia. #businessrelationships

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As a VC of mobility startups in Southeast Asia, I had the privilege to provide my comments on the future of ridehailing. While there are new competitors in the market, they would unlikely unseat Grab's dominant position. Ridehailing is now maturing across SEA, and margins are becoming increasingly difficult to generate. The future of the industry will depend on how efficiently players can generate profits. The days of venture money subsidizing costs are gone. Thanks to Samreen Ahmad for the thought-provoking questions. It will be interesting to see where the industry heads with the advent of new technology disruptions like EVs. #ridehailing #southeastasia #venturecapital Read more here: https://lnkd.in/g4TVaeyX

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Put a ring to it! Kudos to the work being done by Pratima Amonkar, Sudha Elan, Arishta Khanna, Anna Vanessa Haotanto 陳安娜, Rebecca Martin, Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao and the rest of my TiE Singapore board members for this initiative. Please apply or tell your friends about it! /** lyrics rewrite to the tune of Beyonce's "Single Ladies" **/ All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies Now put your hands up Up in the boardroom, just broke up with doubt Doing my own little thing Decided to pursue, now you wanna help out 'Cause I was ready to take the swing I'm up on me, setting goals and dreams Don't pay me any attention Took my focus, and I'm on a mission You can't stop my ambition 'Cause if you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Don't be mad once you see that I run with it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Don't be mad once you see that I run with it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Got dreams on my mind, it's worth my time Wanting to grow and expand Started from scratch, I'm building it up And now I'm taking a stand Standing my ground, won't let me down I'll fight 'til the very end Determination, innovation Won't let you break my trend 'Cause if you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Don't be mad once you see that I run with it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Don't be mad once you see that I run with it If you liked it, then you shoulda put some funds on it Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Founder ladies! Now put your hands up Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies, all you founder ladies All you founder ladies /** end lyrics rewrite **/

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When I co-started Adagia Partners it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was the inevitable next step and now a €1.2 bn platform. My journey was rooted in the belief that the strategic insights I provided to companies could be applied with greater impact through investment. As CEO at Roland Berger, I embraced an intrapreneurial spirit, launching a private equity fund that successfully raised €210 million—a testament to the power of thinking big while operating within an established framework. Alongside this venture, my fascination with artificial intelligence deepened. I authored The Fall of the Human Empire: Memoirs of a Robot, exploring how AI could reshape our future. This curiosity led to an investment club, initially not for profit, but driven by the desire to collaborate with sharp minds. Eventually, this evolved into Alpha Intelligence Capital—a full-fledged venture capital fund with 400m USD under management. Through these experiences, I learned the value of "light footprint management": building teams that work on equal footing, raising capital collaboratively, and investing alongside insightful partners to navigate an uncertain world. It’s a model of leadership that embraces flexibility, tactics over rigid strategy, and the ability to innovate with a minimal footprint. Each phase, from establishing private equity to founding Alpha Intelligence Capital, was a lesson in the importance of strategic partnerships and adaptability. What pivotal decision has shaped your career the most?

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