GOBI - Key Persons
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- Investment Analyst / Pakistan
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- Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Accompanied Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, on a business mission to Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Ghana is also where the Jack Ma Foundation will…
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- Social Media Manager / Malaysia
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- Financial - Services / ProCredit Financing Corporation / Financial Services / Philippines
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- Senior Investment Associate
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- Advisor, Innovation & Startup Ecosystem / Malaysia
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- General Partner
- General Partner / Pakistan
- General Partner at Fatima Gobi Ventures
Ali Mukhtar is a General Partner at Fatima Gobi Ventures. Prior to this role, he founded Fatima Ventures, a venture capital fund established with the vision to support the startup ecosystem in Pakistan. Under his leadership, Fatima Ventures, in collaboration with the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), launched the nation's largest technology incubation center in 2017.
Ali also serves as a Director at Fatima Group, one of Pakistan's leading conglomerates, where he advises on strategy and investments. Ali is a board member of Plan 9 (incubation center) and Plan X (Accelerator), which are a part of the Punjab Information Technology board.
A graduate from the University of Pennsylvania (USA), Ali is a member of various organizations including The Owners Forum, and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE).
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- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Financial Officer / Hong Kong
Angel joined Gobi's Hong Kong office in 2017. Angel is responsible for financial due diligence, portfolio management, fund report and valuation for Gobi's Hong Kong deals and portfolio.Prior to joining Gobi, Angel worked with startup companies and VCs in Silicon Valley and is familiar with related accounting, auditing, taxation, and human resources management work. Angel is also one of the earliest trainers of CMA and US GAAP in China. Angel received her Bachelor of Economics from University of California Santa Barbara.
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- Associate Director - Fund Admin & Compliance / Malaysia
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- Venture Partner / Singapore
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- Member of the ESG Committee
- Partner
- Co - Founder and Partner of Core Capital
- Head of ESG & Circular Economy / Philippines
- Partner / Philippines
Carlo Delantar is the co-founder and partner of Core Capital heading deal flows, startup database, communications, government and non-government relationships. Carlo is an award-winning social entrepreneur working at the nexus of environmental opportunities and challenges in the Philippines. Co-Founder of Altum, He collaborates with hotels, retailers and brands to bring designs from concept to form. Mr. Delantar is also the Country Director of Waves for Water (W4W). Awarded with the Development Award and the Bayanihan Award from resident Duterte, he is also recognized as Top 30 under 30 innovator by numerous publications including the most recent one being 2018 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.
In seeking untapped reserves of talent and opportunity, we have found our most exciting startups and most innovative entrepreneurs in emerging markets. These bold founders are constantly finding unique solutions to their communities' most pressing issues. Throughout our ESG-driven pre-investment and investment processes, Gobi's commitment to ensuring diversity in voices and inclusive management teams has resulted in Women Founders being at the forefront of our portfolio companies.
In the Philippines where only 2% of households have private insurance, Maria Health is helping democratize the archipelago nation's health insurance marketplace. The insurtech offers individuals access to plans offered by the same insurers and health maintenance organizations that cover employees at large corporations.
In Pakistan, Tajir is revolutionizing and streamlining a highly informal and fragmented retail economy where 91% of retail flows through ‘mom-and-pop' stores'. The B2B e-commerce marketplace offers competitive prices, a large selection of products, and next-day delivery to its 15,000 micro-SME customers
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- ESG Coordinator - Hong Kong
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- Managing Partner
- Member of the ESG Committee
- Head of Investment / Singapore
- Managing Partner / Singapore
Dan joined Gobi in 2018. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with over 20 years of experience in Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) and corporate venture investment. He was also previously the Vice President of Corporate Development at Singapore's MediaCorp, where he completed several M&A deals, and led investments in growth-stage startups. Dan's professional network includes various corporate investors, entrepreneurs and fund managers in the region. He is overseeing corporate governance at Gobi, riding on his knowledge gained in well-governed entities such as government-linked companies (GLCs), multi-national corporations (MNCs), and Big 4 audit firms.
Danny Foo - Chief Legal Officer
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- Legal Director
- Legal Director / Malaysia
Danny joined Gobi in 2019 and handles both national and international legal affairs in relation to investments, funds and the portfolio companies of Gobi. With more than a decade's experience, he has participated in many projects including the Sime Darby Ramsay Health Care joint venture. Danny holds a LL.B in law from Cardiff University in the UK and a B(MM) degree from Multimedia University. In his spare time he writes and edits fiction casually and professionally, and also only knows sad mandopop during karaoke.
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- Education / Big Bang Academy / Hong Kong
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- Office Manager
- Office Manager / Guangzhou
Elena is a graduate of Jiangmen Wuyi University where she received her Bachelor of Business Administration. Prior to joining, Elena has over eight years of Human Resources experience from prior roles.
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- Chief Finance Officer / China
Filippo joined Gobi in 2004 and is the General Partner's CFO, responsible for the financial and accounting aspects of the Fund's investment activities. He also takes the lead in financial due diligence on investment targets. Filippo is a qualified CPA in China and worked at Ernst & Young for five years. He is experienced in the Chinese accounting and taxation systems for both domestic and foreign investment enterprises.
Prior to joining Gobi, Filippo conducted regular audits, and led pre-IPO and M&A due diligence efforts in his own accounting practice. Filippo is also a founding member and President of the China Venture Capital Finance Organization (CVCFO), which has over 450 members from the finance departments of over 250 venture capital and private equity GPs in China.
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- Vice President
- Vice President / Malaysia
Hisham serves as a Vice President at Gobi Partners, covering early-stage and growth investments across Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining Gobi, Hisham was a co-founder of Amsara, a blockchain company focusing on tokenizing real world assets (RWA). Before that, he worked for Baring Private Equity Asia (now part of EQT Partners), covering private equity and growth investments across Southeast Asia and the wider Asia Pacific region - this work included the US$1.6 billion sale of precision manufacturer Interplex to Blackstone. He also served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia), overseeing the Bank's equity, corporate bonds, and outsourced portfolios across emerging and developed Asia, as well as in the United States and Europe. He has also done stints at ADV Partners, Navis Capital Partners, PwC, and the Strategic Investment Group.
Hisham holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management and a BSBA from Georgetown University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
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- Investment Associate / Malaysia
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- ESG Coordinator - ASEAN
- Investment Associate / Indonesia
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- Managing Partner / Malaysia
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- Investment Associate / Malaysia
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- Member of the ESG Committee
- Head of Governance & Audit / Hong Kong
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- Legal Manager
- Legal Manager / Shenzhen
Jinyi is a graduate of Peking University Law School, where he received his Bachelor of Law. Prior to joining Gobi, Jinyi held positions at Dentons Law Firm, accumulating experience in fund formation, dispute resolution and more.
JE joined Gobi in 2018 as a Vice President in Investments, focusing on key potential investments in the Southeast Asian market. Previously, he was a founding team member of 11Street, developing their initial business plans, and subsequently focusing on cross border business development from China, Korea, Europe and the US.
He started his career as an investment banker at Barclays Capital, primarily focusing on the Korean corporate and quasi-sovereign sectors in capital raising and merger and acquisition activities. JE holds an MBA from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan and a BA from Yonsei University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Partner
- Managing Partner for Gobi Southeast Asia
- Senior Partner / Singapore
Kay Mok is Managing Partner for Gobi Southeast Asia. He joined Gobi in 2010 and has invested in over 30 companies, including Aptoide, Carsome, Deliveree, Eko, Superatom and Travelio. Prior to his career with Gobi Partners, Mok held the Vice President position in both Xinya Media and MediaCorp (Singapore).
He was also part of the team that managed a $500 million fund at the Media Development Authority in Singapore, and is co-founder of Private Express, a cybersecurity startup based in Silicon Valley.
He started his career with the Infocomm Development Authority, and has a Computer Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from San Jose State University.
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- Assistant Vice President
- Assistant Vice President / Malaysia
Zen joined Gobi in 2018. He analyzes potential investments and assists the team with managing existing portfolio companies. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Finance and Economics from the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Managing Partner of Core Capital
- Member of the Junior Chamber International
- Partner / Philippines
Ken Ngo is the co-founder and managing partner of Core Capital heading general operations and fund-raising. Mr. Ngo is an award winning entrepreneur having won the 2017 Young entrepreneur award from the Chamber of Commerce (CCI) by starting his own Hotel management business (Travelbee) and his Real Estate development business (Hammerland).
Mr. Ngo is also an active member of the Junior Chamber International (JCI), where he was awarded the 2014 Most Outstanding President. He is now the assistant to the JCI World President previously holding the National Vice President office.
Kenneth joined Gobi in 2014, and is in charge of finding potential deals in ASEAN, and maintains a special focus on the CLMV countries. He also manages existing portfolio companies, and assists the management with fundraising efforts from potential Limited Partners. He graduated with a B.B.A. from the National University of Singapore in 2016 and can play over 10 sports.
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- Communications Manager
- Communications Manager / Malaysia
- Reporting and Coordinator Lead
Lidia joined Gobi Partners at the start of 2022 to overlook Gobi's communications endeavours across its key markets and where possible, assist its portfolio companies in media-related engagements. Before joining Gobi, she was also the Communications Manager at hypermarket chain, Tesco Malaysia and played an important role in the former's brand transition to Lotus's Malaysia.
Beyond public relations, Lidia is a skilled financial news writer following her six-year stint as a Business Journalist at Malaysia's oldest English newspaper, the New Straits Times. As a journalist, Lidia was selected for two international press fellowships: the Khazanah Nasional-Wolfson Press Fellowship at Cambridge University (England, 2017) and the World Press Institute Fellowship at the University of St Thomas (USA, 2018).
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- Partner
- Partner / Pakistan
Naiel has over ten years experience in the financial industry and is responsible for managing Fatima Gobi Ventures key relationships with Limited Partners.
Prior to this, he was at BMA Capital Management Limited. In his role there he was responsible for developing and leading a unified sales strategy across the full range of financial products present in Pakistan's financial markets including equities, debt instruments, mutual funds, Separately Managed Accounts (SMA) and Corporate Finance and Advisory.
Naiel holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with concentration in finance from University of San Francisco, McLaren School of Management.
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- Marketing Communications Director / Malaysia
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- Managing Director / Guangzhou
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- Member of the ESG Committee
- Head of Legal Compliance / Hong Kong
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- Member of the ESG Committee
- Chairman / Singapore
- Partner for Gobi and Chairperson for the Environmental, Social and Governance
Shaw Soo Wei is a Partner for Gobi and Chairperson for the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee. She joined Gobi in 2012. Soo Wei has over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience in media and technology helping entrepreneurs and creators build companies, raise financing and expand globally. As an angel investor, she focuses on impact investments in education, healthcare, food security and cultural diversity.
A passionate advocate for the arts and sustainability, she has served on the board of directors of multiple portfolio companies and NGOs in media, technology, arts and environmental protection. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Oxford and Advanced Certification in Sustainability and Sustainable Businesses from the United Nations Global Compact.
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- Partner
- Partner / Singapore
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- Co - Founder
- Founding Partner
- Co - Founder and Chairperson
- Co - Founder and Chairperson / Malaysia
Thomas G. Tsao co-founded Gobi Partners in 2002. Gobi's regional platform supports entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages and has expanded to 13 locations across Asia.
In China, Tom and his partners were first-round investors into Airwallex, Dianwoda, Teambition, Tuniu, UR, and WaveOptics. He was named to the Forbes List of China's Top VCs from 2013 - 2017. For two years, he served as CEO for DMG and created the world's first subway soap opera starring Huang Xiaoming. Tom also leads the team that manages the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, which has invested in companies like AutoX, DayDayCook, GoGoX, Prenetics, and WeLab.
In 2015, Tom relocated to Kuala Lumpur where he set up several funds with MAVCAP, Malaysia's largest VC firm. Gobi has invested in over 65 companies in Southeast Asia, including Aerodyne, Carsome, EasyParcel, iStoreiSend, Kumu, and Synagie. Tom is now building Gobi's TaqwaTech investment practice focused on innovative startups serving Muslim communities such as Airlift, Sastaticket, and UmrahMe.
Tom graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Economics and was the inspiration for Seinfeld's ‘Movie Phone' episode. In 2006, he founded SEO China, a non-profit organization, which has provided hundreds of internships for underserved college students. He also serves as Chair of the Presidential Scholars Foundation, which cultivates, connects, and celebrates U.S. Presidential Scholars (161 of the nation's top high school seniors who are selected annually and honored by the White House).
Gobi Partners co-founder Thomas Tsao call for the need for an integrated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment focus during his panel session at the recently held 25th…
Founding Partner Thomas G. Tsao sets up Gobi Partners in Shanghai, one of the first international VC firms to do so. Gobi is named after China's Gobi Desert, as sand is a raw material used in producing silicon chips that power computers.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director / Malaysia
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- Co - Founder
- Advisor / China
Wai Kit is a co-founder of Gobi. He is a qualified lawyer in Hong Kong, the State of California (USA), England & Wales, as well as Singapore. He has over two decades of experience in corporate and investment management, and has accumulated extensive experience in structuring and executing foreign investments in China. Wai Kit served as an assessor of the Small Entrepreneur Research Assistant Program, Innovation and Technology Fund of the Hong Kong government from 2000 to 2006.
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- Senior Value Creation Associate / Malaysia
- Value Creation and Measurement Lead
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- Finance Manager / Malaysia
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- HR and Operations Executive / Malaysia
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- Senior Investment Associate / Malaysia
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