AppWorks announced the final close of its fourth flagship venture capital fund, AppWorks Fund IV, at US$165 million, bringing its total funds raised to US$386 million.
Fund IV marks the first time three major sovereign LPs, featuring Taiwan’s National Development Fund, Malaysia’s Jelawang Capital, the national fund-of-funds under Khazanah Nasional, and Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC), joined forces in a single vehicle. Other LPs include leading corporates and institutional investors such as Fubon Life, Taiwan Mobile, Wistron, Phison, and E Ink. This Pan-Asian footprint aligns with AppWorks’ mission to connect founders with high quality capital and corporates into a regional startup ecosystem driving both frontier-tech adoption and top-quartile venture returns.
Turning Asia’s Largest Founder Ecosystem into a Venture Flywheel
Since its founding in 2009, AppWorks has built one of Asia’s most extensive founder communities—with 2,086 entrepreneurs and 653 active startups that have collectively created 28,256 jobs across the region. Built by founders, for founders, this ecosystem thrives on collaboration, peer learning, and shared networks, forming a strong foundation for innovation and regional economic growth.
Over the past decade, AppWorks has evolved this community into a venture flywheel that continuously drives both ecosystem development and investment performance. Since 2017, the firm has focused on AI and Web3, nurturing active founder communities comprising 128 active AI startups and 146 live Web3 startups and projects, at the same time expanding its reach across Asia—with around 70% of founders in each of the recent 14 accelerator batches now coming from outside Taiwan.
When AppWorks launched the Fund IV raise in late 2022, the initial target was set at US$360 million. Soon after, the Fed entered into a tightening cycle, triggering global capital markets correction and a broader recalibration across the venture landscape. Integrating both LP feedback and market signals, the firm reassessed the size of the fund in light of the repriced opportunity set. In what is shaping up to be one of the more compelling venture vintages in recent years, AppWorks ultimately optimized the vehicle at US$165 million—a size that enables disciplined deployment into high-conviction opportunities emerging from its ecosystem across the region.
This founder-first ecosystem has become a proprietary pipeline of high quality opportunities for AppWorks Funds, backing during early stages category leaders such as Lalamove, Flow/Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, 91APP, Carousell, ShopBack, KKday, and 17LIVE.
AppWorks’ 2014 vintage Fund II has delivered a 1.9x DPI, placing it among top-quartile global venture funds—showcasing how an ecosystem-first approach can deliver both innovation outcomes and realized returns across Asia.
Empowering Corporates to Innovate Through Founders
Having partnered with corporate LPs for more than a decade, AppWorks deeply understands how enterprises are seeking new engines for growth in an era shaped by rapid technological advancement. Building on this experience, AppWorks not only delivers top-quartile financial returns to its LPs but often serves as a portal to the future—connecting corporates with visionary founders building the next generation industry leaders. Through these collaborations, AppWorks enables corporates to engage with frontier technologies in AI and Web3, co-developing products and business models that extend beyond their core businesses. By working closely with startups, corporates gain early access to emerging technologies and entrepreneurial energy—turning innovation into their next growth engine.
A standout example is Taiwan Mobile, which partnered with USPACE (AppWorks Accelerator #18 alumni) to launch MyCharge, an EV-charging service integrating 5G, smart-parking and charging technologies. The partnership accelerated Taiwan Mobile’s entry into the EV ecosystem while enabling USPACE’s cross-border expansion into Japan, Indonesia and Thailand through AppWorks’ connections.
Carrying the Mission Forward in Asia’s Next Chapter
As AI is reshaping industries worldwide, Asia stands at the heart of this transformation—anchored by its deep tech expertise, manufacturing capabilities, and fast-growing digital economies. Now with the support of sovereign partners and capital networks, AppWorks bridges Taiwan’s deep tech and manufacturing strengths, Malaysia’s multilingual and commercially savvy founders, and Korea’s frontier consumer technologies with cross-border commercialization and capital access.
This moment reinforces what AppWorks has always believed—and what it has continued to do relentlessly: helping founders disrupt the world. That same mission now extends across an expanding regional landscape, bringing together founders, corporates, and investors to build the technologies that will define the next generation.
“I want to take this chance to express my deepest gratitudes to every single one of our LPs for their enormous support during the fundraising process,” said Jamie Lin, Chairman & Partner, AppWorks. “Everyone knows it has not been the easiest environment to raise and we truly appreciate every dollar that has been entrusted with us. Team AppWorks has already started executing our strategies to deliver both extraordinary financial returns and business synergies to our LPs. Together, I am certain we will take Asia’s startup ecosystem to the next level.”
