Darwin Ventures

Darwin Ventures is a technology venture investment firm founded in 2009 and headquartered in Taipei, with additional offices in Hsinchu, Tokyo and Palo Alto. It invests across three markets - Taiwan, Japan and the United States - backing technology companies from early stages through later rounds. The firm's initial focus was semiconductors, and its mandate has since broadened to encompass software, internet businesses and deep technology, including university spin-offs and the commercialisation of academic research.

The firm operates a core venture investment programme alongside the Evergreen Angel Fund, launched in 2022 to support promising early-stage research teams and startups emerging from Taiwan's academic community. In addition to capital, Darwin Ventures works with portfolio companies on international expansion, with particular emphasis on business development in Japan and other global markets, and on intellectual-property strategy - a consideration of particular weight in semiconductor and deep-technology investing.

Darwin Ventures was founded by engineers Simon Fang and Yaoting Wang, who met as doctoral students at Stanford University. The firm describes its investment approach as founder-centric, and its technical orientation is reflected both in the founders' backgrounds and in the depth of the domains it covers: semiconductors, software, internet businesses and deep technology. Its footprint across Taipei, Hsinchu, Tokyo and Palo Alto gives it presence in the principal technology and venture ecosystems of its three investment markets.