Jan. 3, 2023
UVC: Puiyan Leung from Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India on how they assess a founding team’s profile, what it takes to raise a series A & the opportunities in climate tech and creator economy
Understanding VC is a deep dive on how venture capitalists work. In this episode, I talk to Puiyan Leung, Investment Partner at Vertex Ventures SE Asia and India. The episode begins with Puiyan talking about her journey of breaking into VC with her engineering background. She proceeds further by sharing her learnings and experiences that she’s had so far after working closely with startups followed by the processes and core values that they follow at Vertex Ventures. She also talks about the ways they assess Series A startups based on the founding team and what it takes to raise a Series A. Eventually, the conversation shifts to ‘creator economy’ and ‘climate tech’, and Puiyan talks about the opportunities in these spaces, their sustainability, and the ways in which VCs look at them.
In this episode you will learn:
- How did Puiyan break into the VC industry despite having an engineering background?
- According to Puiyan, should a startup founder engage with a big corporation as their initial customer or should he/she go after the SMB & Mid-Market segment?
- What are the core values of Vertex Ventures?
- What does it take to raise a Series A?
- How do Vertex Ventures assess Series A startups? How do they go about evaluating the founding team?
- Does it make sense for startups to raise as much funds as possible in series A? What are some downsides of doing this?
- The creator economy is on a boom, but at the same time, there are very few creators creating sustainable businesses. Will the creator economy expand, and sustain at the same time?
- What are the opportunities that Puiyan sees in the creator economy?
- What is climate tech and how do VCs look at it?
About
Puiyan Leung serves as Partner, Investment in Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and focuses on opportunities in Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Pui Yan was an Investment Director at Singtel Innov8, the CVC arm of Singtel. Prior to that, she assumed a range of operating roles, including Business Development, Product Marketing, and Strategy. Pui Yan is a Kauffman Fellow and graduated with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from the National University of Singapore.
Puiyan Leung
Partner, Investment at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India
Puiyan Leung serves as Partner, Investment in Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and focuses on opportunities in Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Pui Yan was an Investment Director at Singtel Innov8, the CVC arm of Singtel. Prior to that, she assumed a range of operating roles, including Business Development, Product Marketing, and Strategy. Pui Yan is a Kauffman Fellow and graduated with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from the National University of Singapore.