I've managed to squeeze in an entrepreneurship talk in Singapore! Here's the details. Thanks to the Entrepreneurship Centre at the National University of Singapore for hosting the event.
NUS Entrepreneurship Centre
(divison of NUS Enterprise)
Presents
Title : "Emerging Tech and Venture Investment Trends in Asia”
Speaker : Ms. Rebecca A Fannin
International Business Journalist
Author of Silicon Dragon (McGraw-Hill, 2008)
Date : 3 March 2010 (Wednesday)
Time : 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Venue : National University of Singapore
University Hall Auditorium, Lee Kong Chian Wing Level 2, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Rd
Please click HERE for campus map
Registration : Admission is FREE
Please register your details HERE by 3 March, noon
Seats are limited so please register early to secure a place
Program : 5:30pm – Registration
6:00pm - Emerging Tech and Venture Investment Trends in Asia by Rebecca Fannin
6:45pm – Panel Discussion
• Moderator, Prof. Wong Poh Kam Director of NUS Entrepreneurship Centre;
Chairman of Business Angel Network (SEA) Ltd
• Michel Birnbaum, General Partner, iGlobe Partners
• Neo Kok Beng, Co-Founder, President & CEO, AWAK Technologies
• Dr. Jeffrey Chi, Vice President- Investments, Vickers Capital Group
• Rebecca Fannin
7:30pm - Networking and Refreshment
Mobile, Internet, e-commerce, gaming, biotech, cleantech – they’re all booming in the emerging markets of Asia. Some startups with venture funding in these spaces have already scored successes with public listings at high valuations and acquisitions. Others are poised to return profits to their investors as the IPO window begins to open. Startups in Asia scale and get to profitability quickly. The region’s rapid economic growth and switched-on digital communications markets provide the spark for successful entrepreneurship and innovation. Rebecca Fannin, author of Silicon Dragon and a columnist with Forbes, discusses the emerging trends she sees from dozens of recent interviews with entrepreneurs and investors in China, India, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Tech innovation and venture investment with a Silicon Valley view of global trends
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Silicon Dragon Meets Mumbai
We're having a Silicon Tiger Social in Mumbai, February 22, at the Four Seasons rooftop bar, 6-8PM. Please drop by and say hello.
See http://silicontiger-mumbai.eventbrite.com/
Monday, February 8, 2010
Silicon Dragon Meets Bangalore
We're having a Silicon Dragon Social in Bangalore! Drop by and say hello, if you're in town for Entrepreneur Week.
Talking tech, signing books & feasting @ KaatiZone, for Entrepreneur Week. Sign up here:
http://silicondragon-bangalore.eventbrite.com
Friday, February 5, 2010
Here come the Viet Gamers
Here Come the Viet Gamers
Rebecca Fannin
Forbes Asia Magazine dated February 08, 2010
Can IDG add its Tencent magic to a mini-Shanda?
Perched above a Big C supermarket on a street jammed with bipeds dodging mopeds, the Ho Chi Minh City headquarters of VinaGame is easy to miss. But inside, amid funky warehouse decor and lots of young staff (see photo) glued to big computer screens, sits Vietnam's leader in online gaming and social networking services. VinaGame aims to be one of the first homegrown Internet successes in its would-be tiger economy, a Vietnamese counterpart to China's huge hits, Shanda Interactive Entertainment and Tencent.
With stated 2009 revenues of $50 million on the back of what it says is 50% annual growth, VinaGame is capitalizing on Vietnam's rapid rise of digital communications and consumerism. Its chairman and chief executive, Le Hong Minh, 32, is an avid gamer himself.
Yahoo! BuzzSo much of one, in fact, that he aborted a financial career to start VinaGame in 2004 with a few fellow gamers. Duty calls now, however: The Saigon native has cut his playing time to one hour a day from his previous four to five hours.
Shy and modest about his accomplishments, which previously entailed posts at Vina Capital Group (no connection) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Le nevertheless has big dreams. In a barely audible voice, he confides that he wants to take his startup public within a few years on Nasdaq or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
A large player in a relatively small pond compared with China or Korea (see table), VinaGame, by its own estimate, has a commanding 65% share of Vietnam's $109 million online-games market. Its titles, such as a localized version of Kingsoft Corp.'s Swordsman Online, attracted 3.5 million to 4 million gamers a month in 2009.
VinaGame also has moved into social networking--and plans to rename itself VNG to reflect its broader services. Two years ago it introduced the Zing.vn portal. Web research service Alexa.com ranks Zing.vn behind only Google and Yahoo in national Web traffic. Meanwhile, ZingMe, which offers music, entertainment, news, e-mail and instant messaging, leads the market with 4 million active users. "VinaGame is being modeled after Tencent," says Benjamin Joffe, chief executive of Asia-focused digital strategy and research firm Plus 8 Star in Beijing, referring to Ma Huateng's popular Internet and instant-messaging service, now worth billions on the Hong Kong exchange.
To read the rest of the story, please click:
http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0208/companies-technology-online-games-vietnam-social-networking.html
IDG's Scores
Patrick McGovern recalls when people told him he was crazy to invest in China. That was back in 1993, when International Data Group set up IDG Venture Investment Fund. But he knew something they didn't grasp at first--through its technology, media and research business, IDG had an up-close look at which promising startups might turn into tomorrow's winners.Since then there's been a gold rush to China, no doubt spurred by the handsome gains that IDG made from early calls. Besides a score on Tencent, IDG sold its holdings in search engine Baidu for $100 a share after buying them for $2.
IDG Ventures has since expanded to Vietnam (2004, with $100 million), India (2006, $150 million) and Korea (2007, $100 million). Says Henry Nguyen (see photo with Silicon Dragon author), IDG's Vietnam chief: "We are trying to replicate what we did in China and do what countries like Korea and Japan have in tech, media and telecom. We are obviously very bullish on Vietnam. It's a matter of using our collective experience across our funds."
Worldwide, IDG manages $3.6 billion in funds--$1 billion of that the firm's money and the remainder from outside investors--and has invested in 240 companies. The Asian deals have generated returns twice as high as those from its U.S. portfolio.
For the remainder of the article, please click:
http://www.forbes.com/global/2010/0208/companies-patrick-mcgovern-china-idg-scores.html
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