ABOUT US
Mission
Empowering humanity through venture education.
Vision
A world where everyone is capable of being an entrepreneur
Creating value by solving humanity's toughest challenges through creative, sustainable, and innovative means.
01
We are driven by impact mandates and development goals, aiming to democratize modern entrepreneurship and innovation capabilities in emerging economies across Asia.
Equitable future where local communities can create value and accelerate their own markets.
02
We provide the knowledge, solutions, and tools for a new generation of enterprises to become more competitive and resilient in a rapidly changing future.
Venture building and advisory support for venture founders, operators, investors, governments, and intergovernmental entities.
03
We are made up of a vast network of diverse individuals in venture, innovation, economic development, and impact spaces who passionately believe in the power of development, collaboration, and transformation through knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Developing people, ventures, and communities.
04
We support individuals and ventures that take risks on unconventional and moonshot projects with the potential to improve the way we live.
Venture spirit, transformational outcomes.
Thomas G. Tsao
Chairman
Tom is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor.
As a co-founder, Tom has grown Gobi Partners from its original base in Shanghai to a regional firm with 15 locations across Asia. He has over 30 years of experience in venture capital, operations, fund management, and investment banking. He has invested in 300+ startups, achieved 50+ exits, and returned US$500 M+ to investors. He was named as one of China’s Top Venture Capitalists from 2013 – 2017. Tom was a first-round investor in Airwallex, Dianwoda, Teambition, Tuniu, UR, and WaveOptics. Tom also led the team that manages the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, which has invested in companies like AutoX, DayDayCook, GoGoX, Prenetics, and WeLab. Tom gained valuable operating experience when he was the CEO of DMG, China’s largest subway digital network operator, and the CSO for Seapower Financial Services Group. In 2015, Tom relocated his family to Kuala Lumpur from Shanghai to help accelerate Gobi’s expansion in Southeast Asia. Since then, Gobi has invested into a regional portfolio of 70+ startups and 20+ exits.
Tom is the Chairman of the U.S. Presidential Scholars Foundation, the founder & director of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) of China and, a board member of Endeavor Malaysia. He also advises the Malaysia Innovation Policy Council and a committee member to the Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) under the Securities Commission.
Thomas G. Tsao
Chairman
Brian A. Wong
Advisor
Brian A. Wong is an entrepreneur and innovator whose career has spanned e-commerce, education, and digital media.
As the first American and 52nd employee to join Alibaba Group in 1999, Brian contributed to the company’s early globalization efforts in various business roles such as head of international marketing and business development and vice president of global sales. He also served as Special Assistant to founder Jack Ma, Executive Director of the Alibaba Global Leadership Academy and as Group vice president where he led the Alibaba Global Initiatives (AGI) team. With AGI he developed and led capacity building programs for entrepreneurs, universities and government leaders in emerging markets from Africa to Asia with the purpose of sharing how the digital economy can create a more inclusive society for all.
Today, Brian is Founder and Chairman of RADII (www.radiichina.com), a leading digital media company dedicated to bridging the understanding between youth in the east and west. Brian was previously an executive with the McGraw-Hill Companies, and served as Special Assistant to San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown.
Brian has been an advisor to various governments on ecommerce strategies and has been featured as a speaker at conferences such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, WEF ASEAN and Africa Forums, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) eCommerce Week, and the B20 Business Summit. He has also been cited in leading media such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, CNN and Quartz. Brian has served as an advisor on CNBC’s Pop-up Start-up television series and as a technical consultant to HBO’s “Silicon Valley”.
Brian earned his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College, a Master’s certificate from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS)-Nanjing University Center for US and China Studies, and his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Brian is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, China Aspen Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, as well as a member of the Committee of 100.
Brian A. Wong
Advisor
Neil Cheong
Managing Director
Neil is a seasoned startup operator who transitioned into entrepreneurial development program and community building,
accumulating nearly 10 years of experience supporting entrepreneurship growth and bridging operational knowledge and network gaps across Southeast Asia. As the Founding Managing Director of GUIDE, Neil is also the founder of a regional-based venture studio firm and one of the creators of Chief of Staff School. Previously, Neil founded a boutique digital marketing agency and held turnaround leadership roles in two local startups before joining the global entrepreneur community, Endeavor.
Neil specializes in and spearheads the operations and design of entrepreneurship programs, along with community-building initiatives in the local startup ecosystem, leading to the creation and operations of the inaugural Khazanah Innovation Impact Challenge in 2021. He plays a pivotal role in a global council and operation task force, overseeing entrepreneur selection and portfolio services across Endeavor's worldwide entrepreneur network.
Neil Cheong
Managing Director
Alvin Chin
Chief Financial Officer
A startup operator. Alvin led the finance and strategy function in his previous tenure
in GoQuo - B2B travel-tech venture-backed startup GoQuo (backed by Gobi Partners and Monk’s Hill Ventures) and engineered an exit for the shareholders.
He spent his early working career with KPMG and PwC in Assurance services involving in various business industries such as hospitality and casino gaming, manufacturing, FMCG and oil and gas clients. Experienced in consumer travel industry, Alvin spent 4 years with Tune Hotels, heading the finance operations before joining GoQuo.
Alvin co-founded SEA-based venture studio Ignition Chamber Academy with Neil in nurturing new startups. He also serves as director and advisor of several companies in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK.
Alvin Chin
Chief Financial Officer
Renee Pan
Managing Director (China)
Former Managing Partner of Brinc China, an investment-based global pre-seed/seed accelerator.
She has started the China chapter for Brinc, and has designed, established, and operated seven Accelerator Programs customized for Chinese startups with Brinc in IoT, MedTech, Smart Manufacturing, and EdTech. Renee also designed Brinc’s accelerator program for Bahrain.
Ran one of the biggest global startup competitions in southern China with the local government to build out the innovation startup ecosystem. The competition was hosted in more than 12 cities each year, and over 1500 applications every year. Designed a one-week landing pad program for the finalists to experience the startup ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area.
Helped over 100 overseas startups to connect with China market, localise and enter the Chinese market. Renee was a registered mentor for Guangdong Province Incubation Association. She serves as startup mentors in several global startup competitions and programs e.g. SheLovesTech, SWITCH, HICOOL, Accelerator IV, and Techstar’s Startup Weekend.
Renee Pan
Managing Director (China)