SALON: The State of VC in Travel: APAC Edition

In our first two seasons we took a deep dive into the venture investing scenes in both the US and European markets, comparing and contrasting the startup trends, approaches to risk, and styles of investing that are taking hold.

Now we shift our focus east, and take a look at the state of the APAC VC ecosystem. Given the multitude of different countries, cultures, and currencies the region encompasses, it has a far more diverse customer base to tap into than the US or EU.

How does that impact the type of startups that grow up and find success in that region? How easily (or not) can those startups scale beyond APAC? For investors, what do they look for in the startups they back across the region, and are there nuances within each corner of APAC itself? And given the current tumultuous geopolitical environment, is it more of a challenge or an opportunity for starups and investors across the region?

So for this mid-season break episode, we are tapping into some of the investors on the front lines across Asia salon-style, to see what we can learn from our friends there.

Follows:

Gilad Berenstein - host

Cara Whitehill - host

Nick Cocks - Founder & Director, Velocity Ventures

Murli Ravi - Co-founder, Tin Men Capital

Mizuho Hiraguri - Corporate Development for Recruit Co

Go Deeper:

• Trump, tariffs and travel: How will the turbulence play out in Asia? - Web In Travel
• Southeast Asia’s Travel Tech Sector at Pivotal Moment for Value Creation - PhocusWire
• Asia's Travel Surge Drives Moderate Global Growth - Skift
• 24-fold increase in Japanese corporate venture capital in the past decade - Global Corporate Venturing
• Unpacking Asia’s corporate investment trends in travel - TNMT