Ignite Asia

We lead pre-seed and seed rounds. We commit meaningful amounts of capital to empower founders to build the future before it becomes obvious. Deep Partnership We are company builders. We have built products, teams and companies in Southeast Asia. We care about your vision and product in a deep way. We believe that hands-on support makes a difference. Unparalleled Network We provide access. We have spent our entire careers at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship and venture. Our network is comprised of world class founders, investors and technologists.

We democratize angel investing by giving you access to deals, lower the barrier to enter, and build confidence through education & peers. Pitch your Start Up Our focus is early-stage startups in Asia Pacific across all verticals. We invest in pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds. We are strong advocates of female leadership. Having at least one woman on your executive team is required. We invest up to 200K USD per company. We know building a company is not easy. We support startups teams with capital, knowledge, mentorship, a global network and we take board seats. Our angels are executors. We roll up our sleeves to support our investments with further growth and scaling. Above all, we invest in people. We invest in founders who refuse to die. Founders who choose agility over ego. FAQs Got a question? We've got answers. Do you only invest in women? We invest in startups and founders with potential, no matter whether it is a woman or a man. Although at least one of the executive team members should be a woman. We actively scout startups with female founders. At least 75% of our portfolio companies are women-led. What is the average investment amount? As a collective, we invest up to 150K USD per startup through syndication. This allows each investor to join with amounts as low as 5K USD. You decide per startup whether you want to invest or not. Is there a fee to join? Not yet. The first three months are free to join. We meet once a month where you discuss the deals on the table, and you will have full access to all deals. After three months, you decide whether you want to continue or not. The annual fee is SGD 750. I have no experience. Can I join? Absolutely! Every month, new angel investors join our network, both seasoned investors and newbies. You will see you have way more to contribute than you might think. We meet every month, and we have onboarding sessions to educate you on the basics. Check the 'Education' tab on this page to find more resources. I am a man. Can I join? Sorry guys, Epic Angels is for female investors only. We all read about the funding gap. Currently, only 2% of venture capital goes to women-led startups despite it being well-established that gender diversity leads to higher financial returns. Instead of trying to convince men to invest in these female founders, we believe the solution is to create more female investors.

We designed a unique VC model to serve student-founders. Wonder why? Student-entrepreneurs see the world through a unique lens. They are the most exposed to cutting-edge technology, innovations, and societal change. That’s why game-changing companies are consistently emerging from universities: Snapchat, Facebook, and Figma to list a few. Some people will argue you need 3 years of experience to start a company. They are wrong. With enough hard work and perseverance, you can start building a startup that will have an impact, today. If 25% of US-based unicorns are started at university, why couldn’t this be the same in the UK & EU? That’s why we exist, to select, support, and invest in high-potential founders. 10-100k investment: We know that small investments can make big differences. We help you get your product off the ground and set up your company. 12 weeks of intense support: We have our yearly accelerators, and hackathons. There’s no magic recipe but there some things you should know…We help you build your team, quickly test your ideas and create your company on solid ground. 80+ exports & mentors: A network is key when creating a successful company. We are building Initiator with the help of incredible experts, entrepreneurs and investors. Our network becomes yours.

We started Iterative to support founders like you. And the journey has just begun. We invest the full amount upon admission. We then work with the founders closely on their idea for 3 months during the cohort. After 3 months, they present to a select group of investors with the goal of raising a larger round of investment. Our vision Increase the GDP of Southeast Asia through entrepreneurship. Although not a perfect measurement, we believe people's lives improve when the GDP of their country or region increases. Academic research has shown the strongest stimulus for increasing GDP is entrepreneurship. We want to help. Our mission To build the most vibrant, supportive, and intellectually honest community of founders. The best way to help is leveraging our experience to support founders who in turn use their experience to help other founders. In the end, that looks like a community of founders helping other founders. Our story Brian Ma & Hsu Han Ooi at Brian's bachelor party working on the MVP for what would eventually become Weave (YC S14). The premise for the bachelor party was, we rent an Airbnb for the weekend and don't come home until we've launched a new product. Ian Ma & Hsu Ken Ooi in Hsu Han's basement on the first day of their first startup which would eventually become Decide and be acquired by eBay. They worked in that basement for 2 years. If you notice the jackets and sleeping bag in the lower right, it's because they didn't turn on the heat to save money. We’ve started from 0, multiple times. We’ve worked out of the proverbial and literal basement. We’ve been told by investors that our idea was too small, too big or just dumb. We’ve gone from thinking we would be the next Facebook to wondering what we were doing with our lives. We’ve been you.How we helpInvest USD $150K to $500K: This is the least important thing we do. We think of our investment as a show of commitment and to align incentives. There is no program fee. Note: We have made exceptions in the past but they are exceedingly rare. Work with you on your idea: As founders, we’ve started 3 companies (Decide, Weave, Divvy Homes), raised over $100M+ from the best investors (a16z, Index Ventures, etc) in Silicon Valley, sold 2 of them and the third is a unicorn and still going strong. Before each company, we’ve tried dozens of ideas that didn’t work. As a result, we learned a lot about what ideas are promising, how to validate them, and how to grow them. Typically, we can quickly tell you whether you’re trying to do too little or too much and where you should focus. If not, we can definitely tell you how to go about answering those questions. Help you with investors: We’ll introduce you to investors in Southeast Asia and Silicon Valley, but we’ll spend much more time on the following: Fundraising Guidance: Even with a strong pitch, you need to run a good process. We’ll teach you how to target the right investors and approach them in a way to maximize your chances of getting funded. Understanding & Negotiating Terms: If it’s your first time, understanding and negotiating the terms of an investment can be scary, especially in Southeast Asia, where the terms tend to have much more variability. We’ll help explain terms, call out abnormal ones, and give guidance on what’s typical right now. Developing Your Pitch: Most startup pitches are too long and emphasize the wrong points. We help you create a pitch that’s concise and highlights the things about your startup that are important to investors. We then help you workshop it by practicing with your batchmates then with investors who are friends of ours before finally pitching at Demo Day. How it worksWe run the program in batches: We believe this works better for everyone. It allows us to run the program more efficiently, and the startups probably learn just as much from each other as they do from us. However, we invest in companies on a rolling basis so we recommend you apply now. At the start of the batch: You will be assigned a lead partner responsible for your well being during the batch, based on your needs and their expertise. The first thing you and your lead partner will do is set goals for the end of the program. Where do you want to be at the end of the program? Typically this involves growing your primary metric 5% to 7% every week for the batch duration. Participate in events during the batch: Every week, you meet with your lead partner to give an update on your progress, discuss challenges, priorities, and next steps. Founders have told us they benefit from these sessions in 2 ways. First, they rarely have someone they can talk to openly, who has been where they are, and can empathize and give practical advice. Second, they come out of these meetings with clarity. When you’re the founder of an early-stage founder, you’re often so busy getting things done, and you rarely take a step back to think about whether you’re working on the right stuff. We find that the ability to prioritize and focus is the biggest difference between first and repeat founders. Demo day: After 12 weeks, we host a Demo Day where startups can present to a selected audience of investors to help kickstart their fundraising efforts. Demo Day marks the end of the batch. Stay for the community: Iterative doesn’t really end after 3 months. We continue to give advice and make introductions as long as our startups need - -and so does the informal network of Iterative companies. We think of our batch program as just orientation into the larger community.

Entrepreneurs are easily misunderstood. They have a vision of the world which is in conflict with the status quo. Change is hard – and many boulders must be pushed before that vision can be realised. We’ve been there too. Our founders, Eric Chan and Calvin Ng, founded Aura in 2009 in the depths of the Global Financial Crisis. They were 26 and 27. They started Aura at a hot desk in Bondi Junction, as a corporate advisory for young startups. With hustle, determination and elbow grease, Aura Ventures now has $160M in funds under management and a long track record of strong performance. None of this would have been possible were it not for the founders that we serve. While a lot has changed since then, our mission hasn’t. We exist to be the first believers in the companies of tomorrow. We know the road is bumpy, but we're partners for life Riad Chikhani founded Gamurs when he was just 19 years old. As soon as he walked into our office, we understood his vision to disrupt the media industry, and we wanted a front row seat. There were many bumps along the way, but no path to success is linear. That’s why we believe great partnerships are defined in the hard times, when cash is tight, sales are slow and the boulder is rolling against you. We’re here to push with you. Aura Ventures is always there to support our founders and we pride ourselves on being the first port of call during both good times and bad. This is the sign of true partnership. Our network is your network We are one of the most active Australian VCs in the South East Asia region. There are more than 400 million internet users and it is one of the fasting growing economic regions in the world. Through our network we have boots on the ground in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand and we can help founders enter this frontier. Our network is our founder’s network. We have $100M FUM in TNB Aura, our South East Asia fund, and have worked with the region's best investors and founders. Whether it's market research for a new sector, helping make a key C-suite hire or facilitating an intro to an enterprise client - we’re willing to roll up our sleeves and get pushing.

Strand Ventures. provides early-stage funding, mentorship, and a powerful network to student-led startups across the UK. Traditional venture capital firms rarely invest in founders at the idea stage. We bridge that gap by providing student entrepreneurs the capital and resources they need to launch and scale their ventures. Our approach is built on three core pillars: Capital – Early-stage funding to support product development and market entry. Network – Access to investors, mentors, and advisors across multiple industries. Community – A structured support system that connects student entrepreneurs with like-minded peers. Connecting Universities and Venture Capital. Strand Ventures. is built on a university-driven ecosystem, leveraging talent from King’s College London, LSE, UCL, and Imperial. Our deep connections with academic institutions, alumni investors, and industry partners give student founders unparalleled access to funding and mentorship. How We Help Startups. Funding – We provide pre-seed capital to help founders develop and validate their ideas. Mentorship – Our network of investors, alumni, and entrepreneurs guides founders through the early challenges of building a company. Network – We connect student startups with investors, accelerators, and strategic partners to help them scale. What kind of founders are we looking for? We invest in students with bold ideas and the expertise to execute them. Whether you have deep industry knowledge but need help developing your idea, or a well-developed concept but require guidance in execution, we provide the funding and support to turn potential into success. Strand Ventures backs student founders at the earliest stages, focusing on individuals with either: Deep expertise in their field, looking to build a business around their knowledge. A well-developed idea, but needing resources, mentorship, and funding to bring it to life. We don’t just invest in businesses - we invest in people with the vision, resilience, and drive to build something transformative. Why Partner With Strand Ventures? Student founders are shaping the future of innovation. By investing with Strand Ventures., you gain: Early access to promising university startups. Curated deal flow from top UK universities. A long-term impact on the startup ecosystem.