Southeast Asia Venture Capital News

December 21, 2021

Jessica Huang Pouleur Announced as General Partner

We are thrilled to announce the promotion of Jessica Huang Pouleur to General Partner. She is the first to join co-founders Shane Chesson and Hian Goh, who have led the firm since 2014

December 14, 2021

Kumu's soundtrack with SB19 knocks BTS off Billboard's newest chart

SB19’s “Bazinga” rockets from No. 8 to the peak position, in a very promising shift for P-pop music on the global stage.

December 8, 2021

Openspace Awarded 10th Best Place to Work in Singapore 🏆

Openspace has been recognised by GPTW as the 10th Best Place to Work in Singapore amongst companies with <100 employees.

November 30, 2021

Kumu: not content with just content

An article from our friends at The Ken on Kumu and its growth strategies.

November 16, 2021

Hian Goh and Gervin Yang open #PHSW21, sharing insights on scaling

Yesterday, as Philippine Startup Week 2021 #PHSW21 kicked off, we were thrilled to have Hian Goh and Gervin Yang from Openspace deliver a keynote, addressing a large audience joining the Mainstage

November 8, 2021

Openspace backs JIWA Group to fuel expansion and strengthen tech ☕️

JIWA Group, a leader in Indonesia’s technology-enabled food and beverage industry, has announced new funding from Openspace and Capsquare Asia Partners.

November 2, 2021

Openspace evolves brand to focus on Active Intelligence

The story of why we evolved our brand and how we've built the biggest VC operations team in SEA.

October 29, 2021

Openspace meets Kumu: The Story

Hian Goh, Founding Partner, reflects on the first time Openspace met Kumu - and the early opportunity we saw in the Philippines.

May 25, 2023

The Craft: Andy Walshe on Human Performance

In our newest episode of The Craft, Hian speaks to Andy Walsh on the topics of improving human performance, handling pressure and collecting data on human performance.

May 24, 2023

Meet The Team: Skylla

In this week's Meet The Team, our Office Administrator, Skylla, shares more about herself, from her passion for live-streaming to her goal of making a positive change on others' lives. She handles most of the day-to-day operations at Openspace and makes sure that there's always enough snacks in the pantry.

May 20, 2023

Our Recommendations: Steal Like An Artist

"Steal Like an Artist" is a compelling and thought-provoking book by Austin Kleon that presents a fresh perspective on creativity and encourages readers to embrace their own artistic potential. The book argues that creativity is not about generating entirely original ideas but rather about embracing influence, remixing existing ideas, and transforming them into something new.

May 18, 2023

Capabilities Focus: Dr Yiliang Zhao on Data in Openspace

At Openspace, we are driven by Active Intelligence, where real-time data drives the investing decisions we make. We prioritise the use of data in helping both the Openspace office as well as for our portfolio companies. As such, we'd like to shine a spotlight on the use of data here at Openspace, with help from our Director for Data Science, Dr Yiliang Zhao.

May 17, 2023

Meet The Team: Juancho

In this week's edition of Meet The Team, we learn a little more about Juancho, our Senior Associate who sources for investment opportunities and oversees our portfolio companies in the Philippines. Read on to learn more about his love for food and his experience with the Openspace family.

May 12, 2023

Our Recommendations: The Design Matters Podcast

Design Matters is a podcast that stands out as a captivating and insightful exploration of the world of design.

May 9, 2023

Portco Feature: Kumu

Today, we're sharing more about our portfolio company, Kumu. Kumu is a social entertainment app based in the Philippines, being the largest live-streaming company in the country. We're asking them more about how they support and empower their users, as we think they have valuable learning points that other startups and creators and learn from.

May 6, 2023

Recommendation: The Happiness Project

As we enter May, we'd like to recommend a read of "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin.

June 15, 2023

Thought Leadership: Shane’s Takeaways at SVCA Conference 2023

Shane Chesson was given the privilege to be one of the keynote speakers at SVCA Conference 2023 - Asia and the World: Inside The Dynamics of a Changing Relationship. Shane provided a deeper understanding of market dynamics, enhanced diligence practices, and the future of exit strategies during the VC Panel.

June 7, 2023

Meet the Team: Jonathan Chandra

In this week's edition of Meet The Team, we learn a little more about Jonathan, our Senior Analyst (OSV+), who sources, assesses and manages a number of the fund's portfolio companies.

February 9, 2023

Capabilities Focus: Wenbo Zong on Tech & Engineering

We’re starting a new series called Capabilities Focus, which is highlighting members of our Portfolio Success team and the integral role they play at Openspace and for our portfolio companies.

February 8, 2023

The Craft Revisited: Rory Sutherland on Alchemy

This week, we’re revisiting a previous episode of The Craft, where Hian, our General Partner, discusses behavioral psychology with Rory Sutherland - author of Alchemy and Vice Chairman of the Oglivy group. Here are 5 key takeaways we gained from their conversation:

December 23, 2022

Happy Holidays, from us to you

From everyone at Openspace to everyone we have the heartfelt pleasure of knowing or working with.

July 27, 2022

New Craft Episode 🔥: Nir Eyal On Habits

In this episode of The Craft, Jessica talks to Nir Eyal about habits. He's behavioural design consultant, investor, entrepreneur and author of the seminal book ‘Hooked’.

June 14, 2022

New The Craft episode - Chris Lemons on Courage 💪

In this episode, Shane Chesson talks to Chris Lemons, a saturation diver and subject of the Netflix documentary, Last Breath.

March 8, 2022

Stronger through diversity: Openspace on International Women’s Day 2022

At Openspace, we see diversity as both a social and business imperative. It’s because we believe that by valuing diversity, we will encourage more diverse idea exchange–a fundamental element of our firm’s Active Intelligence philosophy.

September 9, 2024

Openspace Sustainability Progress Report 2023

Awareness of ESG issues has grown significantly but translating this into real, deliberate action has been slow. To highlight how we are moving from awareness to action, we are pleased to release our 4th annual Sustainability Progress Report

October 3, 2023

Nano: How Earned Wage Access is Improving Employee Financial Wellbeing in Vietnam

The report was conducted in early 2023 by Center for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP), a non-profit centre established by Temasek Trust to advance the impact investing ecosystem in Asia

August 30, 2023

Reaping the Regional Dividend: The Southeast Asia Coalesce Index

Openspace and Stripe release Reaping the Regional Dividend: The Southeast Asia Coalesce Index, which studies the extent to which the region is growing closer together, and the upside opportunities that brings.

August 11, 2023

Openspace Releases Sustainability Progress Report 2022

We are pleased to be publishing our 2022 Sustainability Progress Report for the third year! In this report, we do a deep dive on ESG issues material to tech companies in Southeast Asia, focusing particularly on consumer protection principles, responsible AI, and cybersecurity and data governance.

Insights

Insight