Social Crypto Investing Platform Kikitrade Raises $6M Strategic Round, Co-led by AppWorks and Media Asia

AppWorks

April 5, 2022

Sean Tao, co-founder and CEO of Kikitrade

Editor’s note: We’re excited to join Kikitrade’s mission to bring social investing to the public in Asia. The press release from Kikitrade is below:

Asia’s leading one-stop cryptocurrency and social investment platform Kikitrade announced the company has completed a $6 million strategic round, co-led by AppWorks and Media Asia (SEHK: 8075) with participation from Audeo Ventures and existing shareholders. This round of funding follows a $12 million investment led by internationally renowned investors Dragonfly Capital and Alan Howard last summer, bringing the total funds raised in the past 12 months to $18 million.

The fresh funding is led by AppWorks, a leading venture capital firm and accelerator in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It manages 3 venture capital funds with a total size of $212 million and is also the world’s second largest institutional investor of FLOW Tokens. Another investor Audeo Ventures is a venture capital firm with a global aspiration, focusing on fintech, consumer tech, and blockchain, it is also an investor of a crypto financial services platform BlockFi.

Media Asia is Asia leading entertainment group , a member of Lai Sun Development Company Ltd under the chairmanship of Dr. Peter Lam. The principal business of Media Asia include artiste management, production and distribution of series of films ,TV programs, music and concerts , The group has won countless awards and honors over the years, including blockbuster movies “Infernal Affairs Trilogy” and “Initial D” etc. Recently, Media Asia has become a strategic partner with Tencent and established its new media, social commerce and virtual entertainment products.

With this investment, Media Asia will enter a strategic partnership with Kikitrade, and form a joint venture to launch “Kiki NFT Platform”. With ever richer resources, the joint venture will drive the integration of creative industries and blockchain technology, aiming at building a new era of entertainment for Generation Z.

Lures Top Investors To Drive Mass Crypto Adoption

Kikitrade has reinvented the crypto investing experience by making its platform social-driven. “SocialFi” investment model allows the public to gain more benefits through their own social and community influences, such as asking onboarding questions and participating in community voting activities to win tokens or NFT airdrops, and turns Kikitrade into crypto investors’ go-to place. At present, Kikitrade has served more than 200,000 users from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Ching Tseng, Web3 Principal of AppWorks said: “AppWorks is committed to supporting the most promising startups and helping accelerate their to incremental growth through cross-pollination with our ecosystem of 435 active companies. Kikitrade is built from the ground up based on the founding team’s unique insights on “social investing”. We believe that is the future of finance, not only for cryptocurrencies, but also for the entire spectrum of investment. Kikitrade has a great potential to drive innovation across investing communities.”

CT Yip, Executive Director of Media Asia said: “Media Asia has been achieving breakthrough developments in the fast growing digital entertainment field, which has become a new normal. The Group looks forward to cooperating with Kikitrade to meet the entertainment demands from the new generations, accelerate digitalization, and curate the best virtual entertainment experiences to Asian users.”

Pasha Tinkov, Managing Director at Audeo Ventures said: “Kikitrade is at the forefront of integrating crypto investing with a dedicated social platform. Audeo Ventures is delighted to join hands with world-renowned investors in supporting Kikitrade’s new funding round and is confident in its management’s capacity to materialize their growth plans.”

Sean Tao, co-founder and CEO of Kikitrade, said: “The strategic investors introduced this time will enrich Kikitrade’s resources in the “social investment” and Social-Fi avenues, and effectively help Kikitrade expand its international market. We will continue to make it easier for the general public to understand cryptocurrencies and develop a sense of camaraderie in the community, so that crypto investing is no longer lonely.”

Taking Social Investing To Next Level

The funds raised this time will be deployed to expand into new international markets. The company had its foray to the Middle East last year, it is planning to enter the wider Southeast Asian markets this year. In addition, Kikitrade plans to strengthen its development team to 100 people and deliver more product innovations to bring users a better SocialFi experience. The company also plans to introduce hundreds of key opinion leaders (KOLs), media, and cryptocurrency exchanges’ CEOs to the platform to interact with the community, and makes investing ever more interactive and fun.

About Kikitrade

Kikitrade is Asia’s leading one-stop social investing platform that allows beginners to purchase and manage digital assets at ease. The company was founded in 2020 by Everest Ventures Group (EVG), a Web 3 focused venture studio, and received US$12 million in funding after launching in 2021.

Investors include British hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard, renowned blockchain venture capital fund Dragonfly Capital, co-founder of Ethereum Joseph Lubin, and Chairman of Head & shoulders Financial Group Stanley Choi, etc.Animoca Brands, a blockchain game giant with a valuation of more than $5 billion, is Kikitrade’s second largest shareholder. Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, is also the chairman of Kikitrade’s board of directors.

The Kikitrade community has garnered more than 100 investment analysts, key opinion leaders (KOLs), cryptocurrency ventures’ CEOs, etc, who have been actively sharing unique insights and latest analysis on the social investing platform, making the community one of the most vibrant in Asia.

Learn more: www.kikitrade.com

[If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the leading founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.]

Andy Tsai ~ 我在 AppWorks 的四年，咻一ㄟ丟貴去啊～～

Andy Tsai

March 31, 2022

in Team

Andy Tsai, Partner (蔡欣翰 / 合夥人)

負責投資與基金管理。帶著超過 10 年創投經驗，於 2018 年加入 AppWorks，2019 年升任合夥人。先前主要服務於 CID 華威國際、最高擔任至投資副總裁，熱愛和團隊一起思考營運模式與競爭策略的解謎活動，更早之前短暫就職於中華開發負責產業研究。政治大學財管碩士，嗜好是旅遊和滑雪。

雖然在 AppWorks 的四年，咻一ㄟ丟貴去啊，但在整個 AppWorks 生態系的歷史長河裡，還是有好多團隊跟好朋友們沒機會好好認識，藉這個發文來介紹自己。我是 Andy，在 AppWorks 擔任合夥人，我已投身創投產業超過 15 年，如果有各式疑難雜症，歡迎隨時來找我一起集思廣益。

硬體到軟體 / Centralized 到 Decentralizing / 實體到虛擬 / 原物料到元宇宙

在加入 AppWorks 之前，其實比較常接觸的產業，是台灣的科技硬體公司。但即使在硬體產業找新創公司的投資機會，也明顯地感受到軟體的重要性越來越高。從全球的角度來看，全世界最高市值的公司早已由傳統、電腦產業，明顯轉向 AMAAT*。軟體更是提升硬體效率的有效方式，還記得有段時間看到有趣的科技新創，多是 Software defined XXX，打破單純由硬體控制的設計方式，有效地大幅提升產品效能跟可能性，這也讓我對於軟體在台灣還有哪些可能性，充滿了好奇心。加入 AppWorks 之後，除了以 AI / IoT、Blockchain、GSEA 數位經濟新創公司為主修之外，還很幸運的在 Web3 應用落地的初期階段，就有機會在海景第一排，欣賞到新一波科技大浪潮的到來。

掃地僧：籌資、投資、再到投後

回顧一路走來的工作經驗，經常轉換頭上要戴的帽子，似乎是最大的特色。做過創投基金籌資，跟所有新創團隊一樣，在談判桌上坐在投資人對面，推測跟回答投資人所關注的問題，過程通常跟新創公司的籌資過程相似，包括面對投資人源源不斷的 Q&A，以及思考誰是關鍵的決策者，或是潛在 Deal Breaker 等問題；做過新創投資案，用最高成長曲線的期待，拷問過不少的創業者，不過覺得這部分最有趣的，是長期觀察新創團隊的成長，曾經見過的團隊，後來歷經籌資、打磨產品、創辦人變更，一件一件都映在心裡，雖然不會參與到所遇到的每一家新創的投資，但也是很開心可以在不同階段認識創業者，甚至看到晉升獨角獸的過程。

投資後管理，戴的又是另一種帽子。希望在團隊鎖定的產品市場上，從產業廣度上提供看法跟觀點，協助新創可以少繞點路，或是可以看到更有效的市場進入方法，當然最重要的是，讓團隊在嘗試新產品、新市場的過程，降低失敗後的風險。曾經遇過最棘手的案例，是投資案的經營團隊，因為產品開發的方向，忽略了市場及客戶的評估，但由於佔公司一半人力的新產品線，始終找不到 PMF，在協助公司重新調整方向的過程中，由我去擔任交接期的董事長，上任第一天的重點工作，是必須砍掉一半的人力，始終還記得那些為著這個產品努力，卻必須面對資遣夥伴們的眼淚，回想起來，過程中有許多可以及早改變的做法，也默默在心中希望不要再讓類似的問題重演。積累這幾年的參與過程，應該有一些經驗談可以跟各位創業者交流分享，也希望能有效提供幫助，並歡迎一起研討以及探索各個產業的破關秘訣。

Long term thinking

隨著年歲漸長，覺得最重要的事情，應該就是要有長期思維。面對生活、工作、人生的難題，好像常常很容易只關注到短期的緊急任務，然而，長期的策略思考，往往可以讓人突然有豁然開朗的想法。好比，想要猜測接下來一週的天氣跟溫度，大概率是很難猜對的，但春夏秋冬的氣候，考量過去的歷史，是相對很容易判斷的。如果，很幸運的一切都順風順水，也 Echo 我們大家長 Jamie (林之晨、AppWorks 董事長暨合夥人) 經常呼籲的，以長期思維的角度，要培養健身的習慣，累積健康的本錢，也是人生很重要的一項關鍵指標。

PS. 因為年歲漸長，雖然人臉辨識的功能沒有衰退太多，但記名字功能的處理器速度緩慢，如果打招呼的時候，沒有直接喊出您的名字，還請多多包涵呀！

*AMAAT = Apple、Microsoft、Alphabet、Amazon 與 Tesla，是目前全球 5 家超過 1 兆美元市值的科技企業。

Five Fundraising Tips for First-time Founders

Joseph Chan

March 29, 2022

in View

Joseph Chan, Partner (詹德弘 / 合夥人)

Joseph is a Partner who joined in 2013 and has since covered our “kitchen” — portfolio management, operations and advising startups on finance and fundraising. He is also in charge of connecting the ecosystems between Japan and Taiwan. Prior to AppWorks, Joseph spent 11 years with the CID Group, a Greater China leading venture firm, where he helped raise US$575M across multiple funds and headed portfolio management. Prior to that, Joseph served as a Manager of Backbone Network at Gigamedia, a NASDAQ-listed broadband ISP. Joseph earned his Master in Agriculture Machinery Engineering from National Taiwan University. He is native in both Mandarin and Japanese.

One of the biggest challenges among first-time founders is putting together their first priced fundraising round. In markets like Taiwan and Southeast Asia, the venture ecosystem is still relatively young, leaving a number of misconceptions around deal making among both entrepreneurs and investors alike. Some first-time founders, especially those from blue-chip backgrounds or elite pedigrees, may treat the deal process as a competition driven by game theory—where there must be a winner and a loser. From my experience, however, treating discussions with investors as a win-lose proposition only leads to mutually-assured failure. Everyone should leave their egos at the door.

What’s at stake when a founder tries to over optimize their own self-interest? Some investors may choose to walk, making the fundraising process that much tougher. Worse yet, you may end up bringing on angel investors who begrudgingly put some skin in the game, but not enough to really help you out when push comes to shove. Setting a good faith tone between founders and investors from the getgo will make it much easier for both sides to come to an agreement. While a startup’s first round of fundraising may seem like a standard process, it sets the long-term legal and financial foundation for the company’s relationship with investors, making it mission-critical for founders to understand exactly what they’re getting into.

1. Find a founder-mentor

The most valuable thing that a first-time founder should do—and maybe the first thing they should do when starting a company in general—is find a founder-mentor, someone who has been there, done that, and knows the ropes of fundraising and term setting with early-stage investors. Founder-mentors can be powerful advocates and filters for your company when sourcing customers or potential backers. Remember, as investors run due diligence on you, it’s important that you also conduct due diligence on them as well. Not all investors are created equal, and you may sometimes find that their actions contradict their words only after the ink has dried.

That’s why first-time founders need to surround themselves with the right people. Mentors and angel investors play an indispensable role in guiding founders to understand the true nature of the founder-investor relationship. By seeking out founder-mentors or angel investors who have experience working with venture capital firms or joining an accelerator program that provides mentorship, first-time founders can better navigate the fundraising process with much greater ease. Finding such advocates will help founders avoid bad actors, understand term sheet best practices, and put the startup on a solid footing for the journey ahead.

2. Mind your timing

Before any team looks to fundraise, the most important factor is timing. Timing is everything. Investors want to invest in attractive companies in an attractive space. First-time founders should initiate fundraising efforts after gaining traction, signing on new customers, or proving out your MVP. The less founders have to show for the company, the worse the valuation and terms investors are likely to provide to discount the uncertainty, unless you already have some sort of track record or successful exit behind you. On a more macro level, VCs tend to invest in underlying paradigm shifts, so always be prepared to answer: why now and why you?

3. Use a savvy lawyer

Another area that frequently trips up first-time founders is finding quality legal counsel. In developing markets, founders cannot rely solely on lawyers to negotiate in their best interest. Outside of the Bay Area, venture capital is simply not a large or profitable enough vertical for legal specialization—so venture deals are often a low priority for emerging market lawyers. When it comes to structuring a deal, lawyers play a fleeting role as the relationship may be strictly transactional. Their nature is based purely on winning something on paper for their clients, and once the deal is done, they move on to the next client. For investors and founders, the first term sheet is just the beginning, as each round of investment adds another layer of complexity, requiring a solid foundation to build off of, with the initial term sheet setting sustainable grounds for the company’s development. Accepting a lousy term sheet is like building a house on poor soil, setting the structure up for collapse under adverse circumstances.

4. Understand the value of vesting

One of the most frequently misunderstood terms among first-time founders is vesting. Many founders ask me, why is vesting necessary? Or perhaps fear that the investors may try to drive out the founding team down the road for replacements. Vesting is a prevalent industry practice, acting as a mechanism to create forward-looking incentivization and alignment between founders and investors. Investors want founders to be in the deal for the long haul, rewarding their dedication to the company. I have found that vesting-related issues most commonly arise among solo founders, where there is significant key-man risk, whereas teams with multiple co-founders tend to reinforce one another to buy into vesting terms. If there is no founder vesting in place, co-founders who leave abruptly can just as easily take their shares with them. I’ve seen cases where 40% of the cap table is locked away due to a co-founder who decided to jump ship, leaving the other founders and investors with little recourse to salvage the company’s ownership outlook. For a more comprehensive explanation of founder vesting, you can reference this article.

5. Be wary of uncommon practices

As far as industry best practices go, there are some less common terms that may put founders at a disadvantage if not understood properly. For example, an investor can try to secure excessively generous veto rights, which could come into play if a company is looking to stay afloat by initiating a down round of financing. In some cases, I’ve seen an investor veto the round as they thought the company could still raise at a markup. In the end, the company had to shut down. To mitigate such an issue, it is important for founders to carefully design your cap table and avoid agreeing to unnecessarily strong minority veto rights, unless you believe the situation truly calls for them.

There are even more stringent examples of uncommon terms. Some investors may force upon founder unfair guarantees, requiring founders to be personally liable for unforeseen tax consequences and subsequent reimbursements to the company. This should be a major cause for consideration, as founders typically should not be responsible for these kinds of issues outside of integrity or fiduciary duty-related issues. Nevertheless, unusual terms are put in place for unusual circumstances. Every deal is contextual, so be sure to understand the full scope of your situation and adjust the terms accordingly.

It is also worth noting that in emerging and frontier markets where venture capital tends to be more scarce, some investors—especially those from traditional backgrounds—may view and treat founders as employees on the cap table. Now, there are certainly founders that do in fact appreciate and require this level of involvement or guidance; but, for many, these types of investors may end up micromanaging every course of action, leaving little room for creative freedom, flexibility, or control. It’s imperative to understand which camp you prefer.

Playing the long game

Now, is there any difference in term sheets for emerging markets compared to mature markets like Silicon Valley? Not really. There are global standard practices and terms that appear across markets that are consistent with the asset class; however, each market and sector have their own unique conditions that require investors and founders to adjust terms accordingly. Local investors may better understand regulatory conditions or cultural sensitivities, which allow both sides to come to an agreement that may better suit the on-the-ground circumstances of the market and company.

Ultimately, a term sheet is just a framework for partnership. What’s more important is whether or not you can see yourself working with this investor for the next 5-10 years, and then setting the terms from there. Over the past decade, financial literacy among first-time founders in Taiwan and Southeast Asia has improved dramatically. Investors have also adopted global best practices to help them win deals by removing once-common archaic harsh terms. For AppWorks, we aspire to work with founders throughout the entrepreneurial life cycle, guiding first-time founders in term sheet discussions and ensuring that founders are equipped with the tools for long-term success. Term sheets should not be a win-lose proposition for investors and founders. As the ecosystem matures, the market will naturally filter out bad terms, leading to better investor-founder dynamics that foster higher-quality investment and innovation.

【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】

Photo by Razvan Chisu from Unsplash

AppWorks Announces New Business Arms and Key Internal Promotions

AppWorks

March 21, 2022

in General

AppWorks’ a number of key internal promotions, including 2 Principals Alyssa Chen, Ching Tseng, and Associate Jun Wakabayashi (from left to right).

AppWorks, a leading venture capital firm and accelerator in Greater Southeast Asia, today announced a series of institutional and organizational developments in tandem with a number of key internal promotions.

As part of its organizational upgrades, AppWorks has established new arms that encapsulate the firm’s core mandate components, including dedicated arms for its accelerator and web3 practices. To drive these programs, AppWorks made a number of key promotions, including Alyssa Chen, from Associate to Principal to oversee AppWorks Accelerator arm; Ching Tseng, from Associate to Principal to lead the newly created web3 arm; as well as Jun Wakabayashi, from Analyst to Associate to head AppWorks Beacon Funds operations. These promotions reflect AppWorks commitment to cultivating talent and recognizing and rewarding excellence within the firm.

In addition to these developments, AppWorks will begin its fundraising process in Q2 for AppWorks Fund IV at a target size of US$360 million.

As the foundation of the AppWorks ecosystem, the AppWorks Accelerator is held twice annually, welcoming entrepreneurs focused on the firm’s core mandate of AI, blockchain and Southeast Asia (“A.B.S.”) to attend and gain close mentorship from the program to build founder fundamentals, accelerate business growth, and gain access to funding opportunities. Since its establishment in 2010, AppWorks Accelerator has built a community of 1,402 alumni entrepreneurs, operating 435 active startups spanning across the region with combined revenues of US$13.9 billion, cumulative fundraising of US$4.7 billion, and 20,169 jobs created.

The firm also runs the bi-annual Wistron Accelerator, a joint collaboration between Wistron, one of the world’s largest suppliers of information and communications products, and AppWorks, that recruits outstanding founders across AI, IoT, cloud, information security, education and medical verticals. As more corporates aspire to establish their own vertical accelerator to bring them closer to startups as well as help startups partner with traditional industries, AppWorks decided to further institutionalize its accelerator arm to bridge the gap and amplify the firm’s existing efforts to cultivate the next generation of founders.

For the firm’s web3 investment strategy, as a new paradigm in technology transforming the digital economy, by establishing the web3 arm, AppWorks will focus on providing entrepreneurs with targeted resources to drive web3 mass adoption and support innovation in new business models. The firm will also assist founders in web1 and web2 spaces of its founder community to pivot to web3 models, bridging traditional startups into the blockchain space. Since its entry into blockchain in 2018, AppWorks has accelerated and invested in a total of 75 active new startups and 141 entrepreneurs in the web3 space, including Dapper Labs, Figment, Animoca Brands, Blocto and XREX, among others.

As part of AppWorks commitment to building a comprehensive venture ecosystem connecting Taiwan with Southeast Asia and the global blockchain industry, the firm has launched the AppWorks Beacon Funds strategy, to date backing more than 20 venture capital funds off AppWorks GP’s own balance sheet. Select AppWorks Beacon Funds include Pantera Capital, Animoca Ventures, AC Ventures, Asia Partners, Golden Gate Ventures, and others. In addition to sharing know-how, through cooperation, AppWorks Beacon Funds strategy generates co-investment opportunities, provides global due diligence and landing support, and builds portfolio company synergies throughout the ecosystem. Roughly one-third of all AppWorks investments are now sourced from AppWorks Beacon Funds. The firm plans to invest in 10 more funds every year aligned with AppWorks’ core investment mandate.

“Through the combined effort of the AppWorks portfolio company founders and our team, the AppWorks ecosystem has experienced remarkable growth since its inception. We are proud of the performance and contributions of Alyssa, Ching, and Jun—and we have decided to put on their shoulders greater responsibilities as part of our institutionalization process,” said Jamie Lin, Chairman and Partner, AppWorks. “With these structural improvements and our upcoming Fund IV, AppWorks will be more ready to create an even greater impact on the development of Taiwan and Southeast Asia, supporting more entrepreneurs, and accelerate emerging and innovative new segments of the digital economy.”

The organizational upgrades come with the firm’s recent success in key investments, such as 91APP and FLOW, designed to accelerate the firm’s momentum in key investment areas. With a 2014 vintage, AppWorks Fund II (US$51 million) has achieved an annualized internal rate of return (IRR) of 29.3% and a distribution to paid-in multiple (DPI) of 1.34x. The firm’s AppWorks Fund III (US$150 million), vintage 2018, currently posts an annualized IRR of 92.9% and has also begun to generate substantial distributions.

To further drive the growth of the AppWorks ecosystem, the firm is actively recruiting investment associates passionate about venture capital in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the global web3 industry. AppWorks offers globally competitive pay and packages, with salaries ranging between US$92,000 to US$180,000, and annual childcare assistance of US$12,000 for each child 0-6 years old.

Alyssa Chen – Principal

Alyssa Chen oversees the AppWorks Accelerator, Wistron Accelerator, as well as AppWorks alumni, mentor network, and community programs. Alyssa joined AppWorks as an intern during university, later returning to the firm as an Analyst in 2016 and promoted to Associate in 2019. During this period, Alyssa drove the rapid growth and regionalization of AppWorks Accelerator, incorporating the core mandate of AI, blockchain, and Southeast Asia (“A.B.S.”) and successfully implementing a hybrid in-person/digital model for the accelerator in response to the global pandemic. In 2021, Alyssa successfully launched the Wistron Accelerator vertical accelerator in cooperation with Wistron.

Ching Tseng – Principal

Ching Tseng oversees AppWorks investments in global web3 projects, and started with the firm as an intern in 2015. Joining the firm after graduation as an analyst, Ching was promoted to Associate in 2019. With a passion for blockchain and its associated applications, Ching has built the firm’s web3 practice from the ground up as an early mover in Asia’s web3 ecosystem, bridging Taiwan to global projects and teams. Select investments include Dapper Labs, Animoca Brands, Blocto, and CHOCO TV (acquired by LINE), among others.

Jun Wakabayashi – Associate

Jun Wakabayashi leads the day-to-day operations of AppWorks Beacon Funds, overseeing investment activity in Greater Southeast Asia and coaching the accelerator team. Born and raised in the United States, Jun joined AppWorks as an Analyst in 2017, driving the regionalization process of the AppWorks platform, and engaging with startup communities in Greater Southeast Asia, gradually winning the trust of entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem builders. Jun’s efforts have enabled AppWorks Accelerator to attract outstanding entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, generate tangible results for the AppWorks Beacon Funds, and investing in regional startups including EMQ and Beam.

【If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.】

AppWorks 宣佈將加速器、Web3 升級為事業單位，並內部晉升負責人

AppWorks

in General

長期耕耘大東南亞新創生態的 AppWorks，在今日宣佈完成新一輪晉升與組織升級。將加速器升級為事業單位，並由投資經理升任協理的陳敬旻帶領；同時也成立 Web3 事業單位，晉升投資經理曾意晴為協理帶領；同時，AppWorks Beacon Funds 計畫，由分析師升任投資經理的若林純 (Jun Wakabayashi) 主導。此外，AppWorks 也持續提高薪資福利，貼近國際同業機構的水準，截至 2021 年底，AppWorks 合夥人以外同仁的平均年薪為 334 萬新台幣，年成長 26%。

透過組織機構化、內部晉升以及提高薪資福利，AppWorks 希望持續吸引、留下優秀人才，因此更系統化的協助創業者、企業等生態系各面向的利害關係人，幫助台灣抓住 AI、Web3、東南亞等典範轉移，所帶來的崛起與轉型機會。

AppWorks 加速器事業單位的策略目標，除了繼續招募來自 ABS (AI、Blockchain、Southeast Asia) 三大成長引擎的優秀創業者，加入每年兩屆的 AppWorks Accelerator，深化 AppWorks 生態系與創業者社群，也將加速開展與大企業的合作，推動以大企業為主體、AppWorks 協力營運的垂直加速器，協助大企業更有效率、更具規模的與各式新創展開策略合作，順利完成數位轉型。

AppWorks Accelerator 自 2010 年成立以來，畢業的活躍新創已達 435 家、共 1,402 位創業者，所有新創加總年營業額達 139 億美元、累計募資達 47 億美元、為台灣與區域創造 20,169 個就業數。由 AppWorks 與緯創，在 2021 年展開合作的 Wistron Accelerator 垂直加速器，也將同步以每年兩屆的速度，招募優秀的 AI、物聯網、雲端、資安、教育與醫療新創加入。

帶領加速器事業單位的協理 (Principal) 陳敬旻 (Alyssa Chen)，經營包括 AppWorks Accelerator、Wistron Accelerator 等服務，以及 AppWorks 校友、Mentors 等社群，同時長期擔任 CEO 峰會秘書。樂於陪伴創業者打造出屬於自己的火箭，大學時期曾於 AppWorks 實習，碩士畢業後加入華山文創園區，負責新銳文創品牌的招商與媒體合作。2016 年回到 AppWorks 擔任分析師 (Analyst)、2019 年升任經理 (Associate)，期間帶領 AppWorks Accelerator 快速成長與區域化，2018 年重新定位為專注於 AI、 Blockchain 的加速器，2020 年起隨疫情轉型為 Hybrid 模式，2021 年成功與緯創合作推出垂直加速器。畢業於政大德文系、政大國際傳播所。

另一方面，成立 Web3 事業單位的策略目標，是在技術、商業模式、產業結構更加快速變動與疊代的 Web3 典範轉移中，讓 AppWorks 能有更豐沛的資源與能量，協助優秀的區塊鏈創業者提升擴大顛覆的範圍與速度，並全力幫助 Web1 / Web2 的校友新創，更快 Pivot 到 Web3。AppWorks 從 2018 年開始聚焦在區塊鏈的發展以來，至今已加速、投資來自 Web3 領域共 75 家活躍新創、141 位創業者，佔整體生態系超過六分之一，著名的 AppWorks Web3 生態系新創包括 FLOW / Dapper Labs、Figment、Animoca Brands、Blocto、Concept Art House、XREX、Dappio、XY Finance / Steaker、LikeCoin、Numbers Protocol、Lootex、Matters、Pelith、Fandora NFT…等。

帶領 Web3 事業的協理曾意晴 (Ching Tseng)，大學時曾於 AppWorks 實習，2015 年政大企管系畢業後，正式加入擔任分析師，期間代表 AppWorks 從 A 輪協助 CHOCO TV 一路到被 LINE 併購退場。2019 年升任經理，主要負責招募區塊鏈新創與投資，帶領 AppWorks 從無到有，長出蓬勃 Web3 生態，並站上國際一線區塊鏈投資舞台，主導 Dapper Labs / Flow、Animoca Brands、Blocto 等成功投資案。

AppWorks Beacon Funds 策略，則是 AppWorks 邁向區域化，打造創投、加速器生態系的重要基礎之一。過去幾年來，AppWorks 以管理公司自有資金陸續投資包括 Pantera、Animoca Ventures、AC Ventures、Asia Partners、Golden Gate Ventures 等在內，專注 Web3 與大東南亞不同國家、領域、階段的超過 20 支創投基金，除了輸出 AppWorks 長期經營創投、加速器、新創生態系的 Know-how 外，也透過與各創投的合作，掌握優異投資機會，交換盡職調查成果，並協力輔導共同投資的新創。目前，AppWorks 約三分之一的投資案源，來自 AppWorks Beacon Funds 所投資的創投基金。未來，AppWorks 將持續耕耘這項策略，加速大東南亞創投生態成熟，並擴大 AppWorks 的觸角，預計將以每年投資超過 10 支創投基金的速度佈局。

主導 AppWorks Beacon Funds 策略的投資經理若林純，長期負責大東南亞的投資與加速器團隊輔導。在美國出生、成長，2017 年加入 AppWorks 擔任分析師，隨後帶頭推動 AppWorks 平台區域化，長期持續拜訪、經營東南亞各國新創社群，一個個贏得創業者、投資人、生態系建立者們的信任。他的努力讓 AppWorks Accelerator 吸引越來越多優秀東南亞創業者、幫助 AppWorks Beacon Funds 計畫開花結果，同時也讓 AppWorks Funds 得以投資像是 EMQ、Beam 等區域級新創。加入 AppWorks 前，任職於 Focus Reports，負責採訪各國高級官員與業界高層，完成多個不同領域的深度市場研究。父親來自日本、母親來自台灣，除了美國與台灣之外，曾旅居 7 個國家，遊歷 50 多國。於紐約大學史登商學院取得財務學士學位。

AppWorks 決定在 2022 年初啟動本輪組織升級，主因 2021 年隨著 91APP、FLOW 等投資案陸續開花結果，AppWorks 旗下管理的創投基金獲利進一步提升。2014 年成立，原始規模 5,100 萬美元的 AppWorks Fund II，最新年化內部報酬率 (IRR) 為 29.3%，已分配收益倍數 (DPI) 也來到 1.34 倍，也就是原始投資每 100 元的基金股東，已領回 134 元的實質收益。2018 年成立，原始規模 1.5 億美元的 AppWorks Fund III，目前年化內部報酬率達 92.9%，也開始產生實質受益分配。

為了進一步抓住 AppWorks 加速器生態，以及 AppWorks Beacon Funds 所帶來的大量優質 ABS 案源，AppWorks 預計今年第二季展開目標 3.6 億美元的 AppWorks Fund IV 募集，也因此提前展開組織升級。同時間，在公司大幅獲利與邁向專業機構化的過程，AppWorks 也持續與同仁分享成果，除了感謝大家的付出，也期待能以拉齊國際同業機構的薪資福利，吸引一流好手加入。

截至 2021 年底，AppWorks 合夥人以外同仁的平均年薪，較 2020 年成長 26%，來到 334 萬新台幣，其中投資經理與分析師等專業投資人員 (Investment Professionals)，年薪落在 250 萬到 500 萬新台幣間。此外，AppWorks 所提供 0-6 歲每胎每月 3 萬新台幣的生育補助，過去兩年來也「催生」了 4 位 AppWorks 寶寶，為逆轉台灣的人口危機貢獻綿薄之力。

AppWorks 董事長暨合夥人林之晨指出：「感謝全體 AppWorks 同仁的齊心付出，我們在 2021 年大有斬獲，且將在 2022 年更上一層樓。在此恭喜 Alyssa、Ching 與 Jun 獲得晉升，將在 AppWorks 下階段機構化過程中，扮演更重要角色。隨著今年啟動 3.6 億美元的 AppWorks Fund IV，AppWorks 將有更大的力量，為台灣與東南亞發展創造更大 Impact，支持更多創業者、加速 Web3 等新興產業茁壯，並且協助更多大企業轉型，在此誠摯歡迎高手加入，一起證明 Taiwan can help startups & Taiwan is helping startups。」

【歡迎所有NFT、Blockchain / DeFi、AI / IoT 以及目標 Southeast Asia 的創業者，加入專為你們服務的 AppWorks Accelerator】