AppWorks 宣佈將加速器、Web3 升級為事業單位，並內部晉升負責人

AppWorks

March 21, 2022

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】

Antony Lee 李欣岳的產銷履歷與協作說明

Antony Lee

March 17, 2022

in Team

Antony Lee, Communications Master (李欣岳 / 媒體公關總監)

負責媒體與社群溝通相關輔導。加入 AppWorks 前有 18 年媒體經驗，是台灣第一批主跑網路產業的記者，先後任職《數位時代》副總編輯、《Cheers 快樂工作人》資深主編、SmartM 網站總編輯。畢業於交大管科系，長期關注媒體產業變化，熱愛閱讀商業與科技趨勢、企業與人物故事，樂於與人交流分享，期許自己當個「Internet 傳教士」。

進入 40 歲之後的人生，彷彿就像電影《命運好好玩》(Click) 中進入快轉模式的主角，感覺在 One Click 之後，我加入 AppWorks 就滿 4 年了。在這正邁往第 5 年的當下，想趁此機會，回顧一下我的 AppWorks 旅程，以及我被賦予的任務、角色，可以如何與我的 Stakeholders 協作。

過去這幾年，我最常被問到的問題，就是「為什麼要離開媒體，加入新創圈？又為什麼要加入 AppWorks？」事實上，我並不覺得我真的離開，現在只是以另一種角色參與。

媒體記者與編輯的工作，很長一段時間是我工作選擇的第一志願，因為透過文字內容分享觀點，進而讓讀者有所收穫、發揮影響力，對我來說，始終是充滿樂趣的事情。大學時期，我就投身校刊社，也經常在各大 BBS 上跟人辯論、打筆仗，對於第一份工作，幾乎沒有什麼多餘思考，很直覺的選擇就是財經雜誌。

很幸運，我在 2000 年加入創刊剛滿一年的《數位時代》，成為台灣第一批報導數位產業的記者，從此開展出往後 15 年的媒體職涯，在《數位時代》與《Cheers》兩本雜誌各二進二出。在 2015 年，我決定離開所謂的傳統媒體，投入當時剛創立、以銷售實體與線上課程為主的 SmartM，負責經營社群與製作自媒體內容。

我在 2015 年的職涯轉換，從事後來看，歸根究底是 Mobile Internet 所帶來的典範轉移，以及對我產生的震撼和衝擊。

第一個原因，來自大環境的結構面。當時，全世界最熱烈討論的是 Uber 與 Airbnb 模式，讓我意識到，一支可上網的手機，竟然可對計程車司機、民宿業者帶來如此巨大的轉變，而這兩種工作，原本只需要在自己的小天地中，經營自己的事業就已經足夠，什麼摩爾定律、破壞式創新、從 0 到 1⋯⋯這些對他們來說，是遠在天邊、幾乎毫不相關的事情，但 Mobile Internet 對他們工作所帶來的影響，顯然徹底顛覆了一切，讓我開始思考，「眼下的所有工作，沒有什麼將是天長地久不會改變的，是否該離開我原本的舒適圈到外面看看？」

第二個原因，則比較偏向個人面，因為我在前一年結婚了。「前女友」跟我一樣，都是傳統媒體的編輯，雖然我們當時所服務的媒體，待遇、福利、影響力都在業界平均之上，但在各種社群媒體、通訊工具紛紛橫空出世，幾乎重新改寫媒體定義的那些年，夫妻兩人「把雞蛋放在同一個籃子裡」，怎麼看都不是一個好主意，人生下半場將頗為艱險的機率很高。

隨後，我轉而投入新創領域，並在 2018 年加入 AppWorks，吸引我投入的原因，至今不曾改變過。包括我以及 AppWorks 所有的同事們，都相信「透過支持創業者展開成功的新創旅程，可讓台灣晉升為數位強國」這個北極星。

對身為台灣第一批報導數位產業的記者，至今從未離開過這個產業的我來說，見證台灣過往 20 多年的發展，一定會有某種程度的「不甘心」。在 1990 年代後期，全球 Internet 第一波浪潮中，台灣曾經位居跑得很前面的領先集團，在入口網站 (Portal)、電子商務、搜尋引擎、通訊軟體或是其他不少垂直領域中，台灣都曾有很優秀的創業者，在當時的起跑點，寫下讓人非常驕傲的成績，但在 .com 泡沫後，劇情急轉直下，在隨後而來的 Mobile Internet 浪潮，我們卻只是擦身而過。

不論是過往的編輯、記者，或是現在在 AppWorks 的 PR 工作，我都非常喜歡跟創業者交流，因為可以感染到他們的熱情與生命力。例如，還在媒體工作時，我大約每半年，會個別與我覺得「有趣、但尚未找到報導角度、先從交朋友與互相學習開始」的幾位創業者一起吃午餐或喝杯咖啡。

我記得有位創業者，擁有美國資訊科學排名 Top 5 大學的資訊碩士學歷，在矽谷享受優渥的生活與工作，某位被科技巨頭高額購併的新創創辦人，就曾是坐在他旁邊位子的同事。因為懷念台灣的生活與文化，決定舉家搬回台灣創業，當時還是不到 10 人的小公司，在我們定期的碰面交流中，他會跟我分享最近創業遇到哪些問題，正在思索如何解決，等到半年後再見面時，他會很興奮的跟我說如何把問題解決了，然後再來要闖什麼關、打什麼怪，而這些交流的部分內容，在幾年後，很自然地就成為我報導內容中的獨家角度。

後來，他的創業成績很不錯，產品與技術都很到位，順利完成了幾輪募資、進軍國際市場，並已啟動 IPO 計畫。我到現在，都還清楚記得，在我們某一次喝咖啡時，正逢他創業的低潮，他幾乎是眼中泛淚的跟我說：「我賣掉兩台車、一棟矽谷的房子，說服全家人放棄美國夢，回台創業，每天跟老婆一起騎機車上班，儘管現在很多人都不看好我，但我相信我的創業一定會成功。」那個畫面，至今仍是我覺得優秀創業者展現決心、勇氣和生命力的美麗風景。

在 AppWorks 這幾年，除了 AppWorks 本身的 PR 工作外，我另一個更重要的角色與任務，就是透過以前在媒體的經驗，協助輔導創業者在 PR 和產製自媒體內容相關的事務。在工作上，我有兩個主要的 TA，第一個，是找到 Prodect Market Fit、進入成長期，可透過適度媒體曝光宣傳加乘、轉動飛輪的 AppWorks 生態系創業者；第二個，則是負責網路產業，總是在尋找下一篇科技趨勢、新商業模式、新創報導角度的記者或編輯。

對於創業者，我自我期待的角色，是提供 PR 相關的協助與輔導，歡迎預約我的 Office Hour，一起發想未來的 PR 策略。包括擬定新聞稿角度、準備媒體專訪，或是如何產製頻率與品質穩定的自媒體內容，我都非常樂意一起交流。因為絕大多數的創業者，都鮮少有與媒體交手的經驗，並不熟悉如何提供讓媒體有興趣的角度、有意義的故事或數字，甚至是與媒體合作的潛規則，而每家新創也都有各自的特色與擅長領域，很難有一體適用所有新創的 PR 策略，這樣坐下來深度的一對一交流，根據這幾年實作的經驗，是最為有效的方式，我可以運用過往的媒體工作經驗，提供一些媒體如何思考、如何吸引記者興趣、如何透過媒體與 TA 溝通等相關的回饋或建議。事實上，在這過程中，我從創業者身上學習的收穫更大，因為能更深入了解許多創業者的思考脈絡、定義與解決問題的過程。

對於媒體記者與編輯，我自我期待的角色，是促成媒體更深入認識新創的橋樑。對媒體來說，AppWorks 生態系累計至今的 435 支活躍新創、1,402 位創業者，是很豐富且多元的報導資源，許多來自創業者的精彩創業故事、產業最前緣的觀察，在當下，未必能夠立刻就 Google 得到，而我很樂意與媒體分享這些內容。

這幾年來，不少負責科技或新創報導路線的記者，都與我建立起不錯的協作默契。當報導專題還在醞釀、搜集素材階段，尚未進入正式的內部題目會議前，一起約時間喝杯咖啡，跟我分享正對哪些議題感興趣、正在尋找哪類報導角度的案例，我可以提供一些更貼近業內現況的角度與觀點，或是一起發想專題企劃的架構、思考如何創造「讀者為什麼要看」的閱讀利益，以及推薦適合的新創受訪案例，作為記者往後報導的參考。

當然，這些都不會是硬推銷，在報導中，也不用非得要有 AppWorks 相關的篇幅，一切皆只是建議與參考。因為我相信，只要有更高品質、更深入業界觀點、更有影響力的媒體報導，對台灣新創圈整體的長期發展，都是巨大的加分。有趣的是，在這樣介於正式採訪與無目的閒聊之間的交流，出乎我預料的，「媒體工作者的職涯規劃」是個滿熱門的話題，而我過往的工作經驗，讓我似乎成了年輕媒體工作者諮詢的朋友，因為從沒看過有關於這個主題的媒體報導或書籍，對此的疑惑，也不是每個人都能找到適合討論、尋求建議的對象。

在多次調整之後，目前，我正在經營 AppWorks Media Meetup 的社群，希望成為協助媒體更深入認識創業者的橋樑。AppWorks Media Meetup 開放給對數位、新創相關議題持續有報導與採訪需求的媒體記者、編輯，或是自媒體的創作者 (包含 Blogger、Podcaster、YouTuber、Newsletter)，大約每月會設定一個主題，邀請兩位 AppWorks 生態系的創業者分享最前緣有關科技、市場、商業模式的趨勢觀察，或是第一手的創業故事，可讓媒體作為發想未來製作內容的參考，或是往後有適合的專題角度，也能從此延伸出更進一步的專訪成為報導內容。

以上，就是我的產銷履歷與協作說明。真心期待，台灣能成為更偉大的數位強國，有更多優秀的創業者、表現亮眼的新創，以及更具影響力的媒體報導。在這過程中，我也將持續透過所扮演的角色，讓這一切更往前推進一些，在路上！

LiveArtX Launches $ART Token To Bring the Traditional & Digital Art Worlds Together

AppWorks

in Investments

Editor’s note: Congratulations to LiveArtX on another great milestone. AppWorks is excited to be a part of the journey to connect the art world with web3. The press release from LiveArtX is below:

・$ART will provide holders with exclusive access to the physical & digital art worlds across the entire art ecosystem.

・More than $4.5 million already committed by leading investors
including animoca brands, BNB chain fund and KuCoin.

LiveArtX, the premium NFT platform that connects the art world with Web3, is pleased to announce the launch of $ART, a token that provides utility across both the physical and digital art worlds. Holders of the $ART token, the very first of its kind, will gain entrée to the art world, including access to the best of physical and digital art, participation in exclusive art experiences and events, advance notice of drops, a role in platform curation, and membership in the LiveArt DAO. More than $4.5 million has already been committed from prominent blockchain innovators and crypto investors, led by Animoca Brands, Binance and KuCoin, followed by AppWorks, Alameda Ventures, OKX BlockDream Capital, Gate Labs, HashKey, APENFT Foundation, SNZ, Shima Capital, ArkStream Capital, Head&Shoulder Financials, Kikitrade, and Aspen Digital.

LiveArtX is a strategic partnership between LiveArt — founded by art industry leaders including former senior executives of Sotheby’s and Christie’s — to bring access, transparency, and digital solutions to the traditional art world — and Everest Ventures Group (EVG), the blockchain investor and incubator.

Boris Pevzner, Co-Founder and CEO of LiveArt, commented, “The $ART token serves as the ultimate bridge between the physical and digital art worlds. It is the cornerstone of LiveArt’s strategy of blending technology, innovation, and deep knowledge of the art market. We believe in a future art world that combines the best of the traditional art industry with the power of Web3 technology and crypto communities. And that’s why we created LiveArtX with our partners at EVG — a platform with digital and physical art, with purchases made in crypto and cash, with exhibitions in the real world and the metaverse — all underpinned by the $ART token.”

Allen Ng, CEO of EVG and Co-Founder of LiveArtX, said, “Blockchain opens up a lot of overdue possibilities for artists and collectors. But technology can’t do it alone. With the unparalleled art market know-how from the team of LiveArt and now the strong backing from the Web3 community, LiveArtX is going to bring fresh innovation to one of the oldest asset classes of mankind.”

LiveArtX serves the entire art ecosystem. Artists can mint their works in the LiveArtX Creator Hub with powerful rights management and unbreakable resale royalties. Collectors can access a curated selection of only the best artworks on the LiveArtX Marketplace. The White Label Suite enables galleries and partners to launch and manage their own NFT marketplaces, or work with the LiveArtX Studio to curate and market drops. And the LiveArtX Developer Lab empowers the most advanced coders to work with our innovative technology.

The team behind LiveArt includes seasoned art market and technology professionals led by Adam Chinn — founding partner of the international art advisory firm, Art Intelligence Global, and former Chief Operating Officer of Sotheby’s; John Auerbach — CEO of UOVO, the premier provider of fine art and collections storage and services, who previously held senior e-commerce roles at Sotheby’s and Christie’s; and digital entrepreneur Boris Pevzner — whose numerous credits include the development of Collectrium (acquired by Christie’s) and xfire (acquired by Viacom). The leadership team also includes George O’Dell, a veteran Contemporary Art specialist who spent the past 13 years at auction houses in London and New York; and Marisa Kayyem, an art historian and art advisor who was the Director of Education at Christie’s.

About LiveArtX

LiveArtX is a premium NFT platform that connects the art world with web3. Built by art industry leaders, LiveArtX brings creators, collaborators, and collectors into the metaverse. LiveArtX, together with LiveArt.io, provides the ultimate bridge between the physical and digital art worlds — blending technology, innovation, and deep knowledge of the art market.

[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.]

Office Hours with David Wu

David Wu

March 9, 2022

in Team

David Wu, Associate (吳戴文 / 投資經理)
David is an Associate mainly focused on investments. He previously lived in the US, but was drawn to the Greater Southeast Asia region by the growth opportunities and the wonderful people here. He spent the first five years of his career as a consultant at IBM, where he became intimately familiar with the enterprise software and services needs of Fortune 500 companies. Later, he focused on building predictive models and solving optimization problems for large companies, and gained an appreciation for the role of data and algorithms in our lives. He joined AppWorks in 2020 after receiving his MBA from Columbia Business School, and also has a B.S. in Mathematics from the Ohio State University. In his free time, he tries to stay active and is always looking for opportunities to hike or trek, often seeking the trail less traveled.

People often ask me why I committed career suicide and came to Taiwan. When I accepted my return offer after my MBA summer internship here, some of my classmates at Columbia, who I love, were surprised. Some had assumed I just wanted a summer of fun in “Thailand” before resuming a serious career. Others gave me some encouraging words and reminded me that recruiting wasn’t over and I should stay open to other opportunities. One person literally thought I was joking (to be fair, most people can’t ever tell if I’m joking or not).

The main reason I came was for personal growth. Before my MBA I spent a year in Shijiazhuang, China only learning Mandarin (there wasn’t anything else to do there). Like most people who have lived in a different country, I really grew as a person from leaving my comfort zone, experiencing new things, and talking to different people. For this reason, I literally would have sooner taken a job as a kitchen hand in Asia than a white collar position in the US. Taiwan also happens to be a really pleasant place to live where the people are truly salt of the earth.

I’m also blessed to be a simple person from Ohio (US) and spent the first 25 years of my life there, so I don’t need much to be happy. Many “coastal elites” have lower expectations of Middle America, and we are generally misunderstood. But that’s just the way we like it. We block out the noise and worry about our own business, get down to honest work, and always end up surprising people. Maybe I also found that in Taiwan – a lot of smart, determined, overlooked people brewing up some special things. I think we’ll continue to surprise a lot of people.

In this way, I resonate with founders a lot. Many founders are viewed skeptically by society, but they don’t care, and they get down to work and end up surprising people. I will never forget enthusiastically describing to my friends a startup I encountered during my summer internship, when one friend remarked, “that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard”. That company is now valued at close to $10 billion (not that stupid things can’t be worth $10 billion). Every day I have the privilege of believing in people, and few things are as fun as witnessing them create something from nothing.

Despite being known as “The Professor” at the office, my main job is to be a student. I work on the web3 arm at AppWorks, which brings me joy as it unites me with my college interests of math and computer science. Every day I’m uncomfortable, see new things, and talk with amazing founders. At times I feel like a college student again, stepping into a new world with humility and an open mind.

Besides working on investments and doubling as a host at Demo Day, I also run the college intern program here. Many people overlook interns as unskilled labor, but I see them as our future leaders who will surpass most of us faster than we think. I believe helping these bright young people at this juncture of their career will pay rich dividends for all of us. The intern program is just one of the many non-financial investments we make here to help better society, and I personally get a lot of fulfillment from coaching and teaching.

Lastly, I also run the MBA recruiting program. It’s a sales job, and I try to pitch MBAs on why they should come to Taiwan after they’ve just spent two years and $200K on their degree and are being wined and dined by consulting firms and big tech companies that people have actually heard of. It is a tough sell to start from the bottom. But I’ve always believed that the view from the top is more breathtaking after you’ve climbed from the bottom, arriving totally spent, after nobody thought you could. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cyber Sierra Raises US$4.3 Million Seed to Strengthen SME Cybersecurity and Insurance Coverage

AppWorks

March 1, 2022

in Investments

Editor’s note: Congrats to Cyber Sierra for closing out their seed round, AppWorks is proud to be a part of the journey! The press release from Cyber Sierra is below:

Cyber Sierra, a technology-enabled cyber insurtech provider, announced the completion of a US$4.3 million seed round of financing led by Leo Capital, with participation from AppWorks, Credit Saison, as well as angel investors including prominent founders and leaders in the cloud and insurance sectors.

Founded in June 2021, Cyber Sierra is a technology company that offers cyber risk, compliance and insurance products backed by leading global brokers and insurers. The company delivers cybersecurity and technology insurance offerings to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with presence on the cloud. Cyber Sierra provides companies with up to US$5 million of cyber and technology insurance coverage. Starting in Singapore, the company is currently expanding to India in addition to other countries in the Southeast Asia region.

Cyber Sierra is led by a team of seasoned technology entrepreneurs, including Pramodh Rai, who has led technical teams at Hmlet and Funding Societies; and Subhajit Mandal, an experienced fintech and insurtech expert with stints at AXA and MetLife. As a technically-driven company, Cyber Sierra is strongly focused on creating targeted security features for its end users.

Through Cyber Sierra’s platform, businesses will be able to access a number of cybersecurity tools including threat alerts, intelligence feeds, anti-phishing, vulnerability scans and governance features with bundled insurance offerings. Cyber Sierra’s customers include leading fintech companies, healthcare providers, e-procurement as well as ed-tech and e-commerce technology firms.

“Our goal is to serve every online business,” said Pramodh Rai, Co-founder, Cyber Sierra. “In current times, cloud native companies have inevitably either already experienced data and security incidents, or will soon. Cyber Sierra aspires to build the best cyber experience for SMEs, offering a full suite of technology, insurance products and solutions to help companies compliantly strengthen their security posture as well as gain access to expert response and comprehensive insurance coverage when needed.”

“For a young, fast growing, global and digital commercial risk such as cyber, the next couple of years present a unique opportunity to create the next generational way of insuring businesses,” said Subhajit Mandal, Co-founder, Cyber Sierra. “Our platform is focused on helping customers grow their cyber security posture, with embedded insurance offerings. This helps companies to adopt a more holistic approach to managing cyber risk.”

With this round of financing, Cyber Sierra plans to launch and grow its business offerings to include more products to serve risk and compliance needs of businesses in line with apt regulatory frameworks. It will also bring on new hires across all functions, expand its network of startups, SME customers across Southeast Asia, India, and other markets.

“Covid accelerated the digitization of every business around the world. To meet the needs of online businesses new and old alike, we are excited to back Subhajit and Pramodh, supporting them in building solutions for the cyber security and cyber insurance challenges of the digital economy,“ remarked Shwetank Verma, Managing Partner, Leo Capital.

Cyber Sierra’s team includes technology entrepreneurs and executives who have built cybersecurity and insurtech solutions for banks, government agencies, cloud providers and (re)insurers. Their combined expertise positions Cyber Sierra to help businesses solve the cyber risk challenges of today and tomorrow.

About Cyber Sierra

Cyber Sierra, a wholly owned product launched by Fort One Technologies Pte Ltd, is a cyber risk solutions suite founded by Subhajit Mandal and Pramodh Rai that combines risk compliance tools and comprehensive cyber insurance to help businesses manage and mitigate cyber risk. Backed by leading brokers and insurers, Cyber Sierra provides companies with up to US$5 million of cyber and technology insurance coverage in Singapore and India. Cyber Sierra’s platform provides alerts, threat intelligence, expert guidance and tools to help businesses grow their security posture in the face of current cyber threats. Cyber Sierra is headquartered in Singapore.

For more information about Cyber Sierra, please visit http://www.cybersierra.co or follow on LinkedIn or Twitter.

【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.】