I’ve known the Accelerating team for over 6 years now. I knew Amra and Craig from when they both ran the Singapore branch of Telstra’s accelerator program, Muru-d. I was impressed by their work on that program when they started Accelerating Asia and was 100% convinced they would really shake up the entire startup ecosystem in Asia.
My background has largely been in Telecoms, I joined the workforce when the dot.com bubble burst so startups and anything with a dot.com was treated with cynicism by me. My good friend then left his well-paying tech job to join a startup that created an online marketplace for gold and silver trading. It was a highly risky move, but he’s now retired in New Zealand and living a good life after his company was acquired by a private equity firm. This gave me the first insight into how life can be different to the routine I had been told, where you graduate from university, get a job, work hard, and retire. I made a small angel investment with his startup before I even knew what Angel investing was!
I then got exposed to the work muru-d were doing and the startups coming through the program were exciting, diverse and had founders that were motivated at a level I hadn’t seen in the corporate world. The enthusiasm was infectious. From there I made my second angel investment.
I am an LP on both funds, actively participate in events scheduled by the Accelerating Asia team, and work with the co-founders of the various startups, but my main “hobby” is writing angel cheques to the startups and founders I really like.
I like the team. Investing in startups is largely about the founders, the team, and what you think they can achieve. This also applies to Accelerating Asia
For the investor, the Accelerating Asia team review, filter, and select startups for the investor. It is much better than doing the high level of due diligence required if you’re meeting startups individually.
For the startups, Accelerating Asia has a ready community and ecosystem that the startup founders can tap into and build from. Being a co-founder is a lonely task and Accelerating Asia brings a lot of support to the founders.
For investors looking to invest but want to minimise their risk in what I think is one of the highest risk asset classes then investing in the Accelerating Asia fund reduces the risk by spreading the investments across hundreds of startups rather than trying to pick the winners individually.
The proven track record and value-add that the accelerator brings to startups has attracted some of the most interesting startups into the program. The funnel or deal flow of startups has been consistently improving with every cohort.
Fundamentally, the impact investing focus makes Accelerating Asia stand out, the emphasis on Social Development Goals makes the whole ESG angle very obvious.
That along with the combination of accelerator program, a solid and engaged alumni, and the fact they don’t focus on any specific industry vertical makes Accelerating Asia very unique. The possibilities are endless with this mix.
You can’t get any more diverse with this cohort! From K-Pop to Rice Quality analysis! If there isn’t something here that piques your interest, then I don’t know what will.
Yes! The value is more than just the incoming cash investment. Startup founders exit the accelerator program, confident, stronger, and more experienced.
The cohorts are already pre-selected, the due diligence has been done and Accelerating Asia acts in many ways like a lead investor. The paperwork in terms of SAFE notes are pretty much standard making legal reviews minimal and the network of angels you have access to are great to bounce ideas with.
We’re always told in many forums how to diversify your risk. Invest in an all-market ETF and you’re not overexposed to one industry vertical or geographic risk. Startup investing is a risky asset class. So why wouldn’t you diversify your risk in this asset class too? The Accelerating Asia fund spreads the risk amongst 100 plus startups, across many geographies, and industries. You just wouldn’t be able to do this as a lone-wolf angel investor and get the market beating returns you’d want to get.
Accelerating Asia invests in startups with scalable technology solutions and revenue generating business models that combine purpose with profit.
In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of startups and the terms of the investment including the merits and risks involved. Prospective investors should not construe this content as legal, tax, investment, financial or accounting advice.
