Investments
We know you have a choice. We want you to choose us.
As ex-founders ourselves, we know how important it is for a startup to have VCs that really help – investors who advise, open doors, guide strategies, provoke thinking and help with recruiting, but never cross the line into micromanagement.
We know that money is money, and it is the right investors that make a difference.
We know VCs who already have a working relationship with you make the best investors.
We know that strong founders have a choice, and we want to bring much more than money to the table so that you’ll choose to work with AppWorks.
Jamie Lin
AppWorks Funds at a glance
- US$ 350 million total fund size
- Invest from $200K to $15M per deal
- Participate in Series Seed to Series-C rounds
- Finance 20 – 30 deals a year
- Will reserve funds to support your future financing
- Comfortable both leading and following
- Aim to keep dilution at 10-20% per round for you
- Prefer joining your Board as a Director or an Observer
- Will integrate you into the AppWorks Network and help you gain the full benefits
- Will leverage our in-house Masters Team to help you with public relations, recruiting, legal, finance, accounting, design and work space-related matters.
- Have so far bred 6 IPOs, 6 IEOs,1 hectocorn, 2 decacorns, 5 unicorns and 4 centaurs
How to raise from AppWorks
Seed Round
If you’re raising a seed round, we encourage you to first apply to AppWorks Accelerator and take advantage of the many resources offered to our early-stage founders throughout the 6-month program.
Series-A to -C Round
If you’re raising a Series-A to -C round, it’s easiest to reach us through a warm introduction – but if you don’t know anyone in our network, you’re still more than welcome to email us at [email protected].
Series-D or Later Round
If you’re raising a Series-D or later round, you should still feel free to reach out to us, but please bear in mind that our fund might end up being too small to participate in your deal.
Below is a list of startups that have selected AppWorks as their VC partner:
91APP is a leading omni-channel retail storefront software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Founded by Steven Ho, a serial entrepreneur who has helped found 16 successful ventures related to e-commerce, the company provides a SaaS platform that enables retailers and consumer goods producers alike to quickly develop high-quality branded apps, mobile-friendly websites, as well as O2O capabilities. 91APP is now used by more than 1,000 retailers, including FamilyMart, Studio A, Q Square and StayReal. (AppWorks first funded 91APP in 2014 leading Series A.)
Based in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, AI Hay is a leading consumer AI-first Knowledge Discovery Platform founded by veteran entrepreneurs (currently in stealth mode). AI Hay combines a proprietary Generative Answer Engine with integrated social features, democratizing access to collective intelligence for speakers of low-to-medium resource languages. AI Hay is on a mission to revolutionize knowledge accessibility across Asia, beginning with Vietnamese.(AppWorks first funded AI Hay in 2023 during their Series Pre-A).
Apollo Medical Optics (AMO) was co-founded in 2015 by David Ma, a biotech entrepreneur with a unique background pulling from long-standing roots in both academia and industry experiences. AMO is a medical technology company developing a novel non-invasive and high-resolution imaging system based on cutting-edge Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technologies and AI. With its unique crystal fiber technologies, AMO’s OCT system can generate, without having to take biopsies, cellular-level resolution images, providing clinicians with a valuable tool for diagnosing pigmentation disorders and monitoring skin health. (AppWorks first funded AMO in 2022 leading Pre-Series-C.)
Founded by serial entrepreneur Yat Siu, Animoca Brands is known as the leading developer and publisher of blockchain games including Formula 1 Delta Time, MotoGP™ Ignition, and traditional games based on popular global brands including Marvel, WWE, Power Rangers, and Doraemon. Animoca Brands also owns an expansive portfolio of more than 50 investments in NFT-related blockchain companies, with the overall aim of revolutionizing digital property rights for gamers. (AppWorks first funded Animoca in 2021.)
Authme (AW#18) is a leading identity verification solution provider co-founded in 2019 by tech enthusiasts Andy Lee, Kuochan Tseng, and Dalton Hsu. With a background as repeat founders in technical production and white-hat hacking, they are committed to building comprehensive and efficient cybersecurity services. This vision led to the creation of an industry-leading AI-based eKYC solution, encompassing ID verification, face recognition, and liveness detection, enhancing information security, operational efficiency, and user experience for corporates, and has since gained trust by customers in financial sectors, including LINE Bank. (AppWorks first funded Authme in their Series Seed in 2022.)
Autonomy Network
Founded in 2021 by James Key, a determined decentralist, Autonomy Network (AW#23) is a decentralized automation protocol that uses a network of bots to automatically execute smart contracts in a completely decentralized manner. It can be used to implement automatic DEX trading features such as limit and stop orders and automatic transactions such as recurring payments. It also enables autonomous NFTs, which can be implemented as non-player characters in blockchain gaming or metaverses. (AppWorks first funded Autonomy Network in 2021.)
Founded by a veteran marketer Jesse Lee in 2018, Basic.Space is a marketplace designed for the modern consumer that values curation, sustainability, and authenticity. The platform serves as a backdrop for tastemakers to showcase elements that make up their lifestyle, promoting a wide range of merchandise from fashion and furniture pieces to physical and digital art collectables. Basic.Space partnered with Naomi Osaka and her sister Mari Osaka as a curator to launch its first NFT collection “The Colors of Naomi Osaka” in 2021 and will continue to embrace new mediums to serve tastemakers across the world. (AppWorks first funded Basic.Space in 2021.)
Founded by Alan Jiang and Deb Gangopadhyay in 2018, Beam is the largest shared micro-mobility operator in APAC, providing urban residents the opportunity to take ownership of their mobility options while improving accessibility of cities via better first / last mile connectivity. Previously, Alan spent several years as an executive in both Ofo and Uber APAC, equipping him with the necessary operational and regulatory experience to push Beam forward. On the other hand, Deb is a technologist at heart with an unparalleled business sense that he’s refined through the handful of startups he’s built over the years. (AppWorks first funded Beam in 2020 participating in Series A.)
BlokID was founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Michael Hahn who comes from over two decades of experience in adtech and data analytics, and is among the select few that can claim two startup exits under his belt. The company is building a new kind of adtech solution that leverages blockchain to offer specialized auditing and privacy protection solutions for digital marketers. Focused on empowering brands to use GenAI safely and effectively in their digital advertising, BlokID aims to transform the industry by unlocking the power of GenAI in a brand safe and privacy conscious way. (AppWorks first funded BlokID in 2022, leading its Series Seed.)
Botsync was co-founded in 2017 by four co-founders: Rahul Nambiar, Nikhil Venkatesh, Prashant Trivedi, and Singaram Venkatachalam. They met at a robot competition at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and started Botsync right after graduation. Botsync is an automation solutions provider for intralogistics in manufacturing facilities. Their main product is configurable software and operating system that can integrate with any robot from any brand. They directly serve dozens of prominent manufacturers in the APAC region, such as Ford, Kimberly-Clarke, and Nestle. (AppWorks first funded Botysnc in 2024 participating in Series A).
Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo and buying as simple as chatting. Launched in 2012 by Siu Rui Quek, Marcus Tan, and Lucas Ngoo, three classmates-turned-cofounders from National University of Singapore, Carousell has spread to dozens of cities across APAC. They are the trusted destination for millions of buyers and sellers of autos, property, fashion items, and more. (AppWorks first funded Carousell in 2018 participating in Series C.)
Clout Kitchen was co-founded in 2024 by Justin Banusing, Marcel Feldkamp, and Gabriel Lopez, 3 gaming and creator economy repeat founders. While in high school, Justin already built Southeast Asia’s largest creator event with 120K+ attendees. Marcel was a pioneering League of Legends pro who has built and exited one of the first gaming talent agencies. Gabriel was the youngest venture-backed founder in the Philippines. Clout Kitchen aims to unlock infinite scale for creators through AI-powered companions that enable them to interact with their fans anytime, anywhere, starting inside their favorite games. (AppWorks first funded Clout Kitchen in 2024 leading Series Pre-Seed).
Founded in 2003 by James Zhang, an artist-turned founder with 2 decades of experience in the game development and publishing industry, Concept Art House (CAH) is the creator and publisher behind some of the world’s most recognizable NFTs and video game art, such as Call of Duty Mobile, Fornites, League of Legends, NBA 2K series. In its storied history, CAH has shipped over 1000+ games and collectibles with influential brands and helped countless partners to bring new types of games and collectibles to market with its creative and experienced team. (AppWorks first funded Concept Art House in 2021.)
Founded in 2021 by Pramodh Rai and Subhajit Mandal, Cyber Sierra is a cyber risk solutions suite that combines risk compliance tools and comprehensive insurance to help businesses manage and mitigate cyber as well as technology threats. The two founders both come from unique backgrounds yet are nonetheless synergistic. Pramodh is an engineer turned operator with extensive experience scaling startups, having served in senior leadership roles in Funding Societies and Hmlet. On the other hand, Subhajit, an accredited CFA III, brings the business and industry expertise, having previously worked as a trader and insurance executive. (AppWorks first funded Cyber Sierra in 2021.)
Founded by Roham Gharegozlou, he and his team are very methodical and strategic in their consumer-driven approach and have good co-founder dynamics. Dapper Labs is the creator behind NBA Topshot and the Flow blockchain. The company is on a mission to create unique entertainment experiences using technologies including NFT and help creators and brands better engage with fans around the world. Dapper Labs has partnered with NBA, NFL, LaLiga, Warner Music Group, UFC and many other world-class IP owners. (AppWorks first funded Dapper Labs in 2019.)
Founded in 2021 by Justin Wang, Alan Peng, and Juin Chiu, Dappio is a one-stop solution that aggregates yields across DeFi and NFTs. All three co-founders have been early movers and believers in the crypto space, with Justin having mined BTC in his university dorm room and subsequently worked for protocols like NEM and Ripple; Alan having accumulated key product development experiences in Crypto.com and Bincentive; and Juin having been an early technical contributor to Ethereum and now actively building on Solana. (AppWorks first funded Dappio in 2022.)
Incorporated in 2015, Dcard is a fast-growing forum-based social platform with tens of millions of monthly active users and over 1.5 billion page views a month. Kytu Lin, co-founder and CEO of Dcard, was Taiwan’s only entrant on Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Asian consumer technology leaders category in 2020. Headquartered in Taiwan, Dcard provides a quasi-anonymous environment that allows users to discuss all kinds of topics freely and securely. With its high penetration among younger demographics, important discussions on Dcard are often picked up by the mainstream media and create a sizable influence on society. (AppWorks first funded Dcard in 2020 leading Series C.)
Founded by serial entrepreneur David Selinger in 2016, Deep Sentinel is a pioneer in AI-based home protection. The company’s intelligent crime prevention transforms home security from false alarms and ineffective crime alerts to real-time crime prediction and prevention. (AppWorks first funded Deep Sentinel in 2018 participating in Series A.)
DotDot was founded in 2019 by Ting Hsieh, a serial entrepreneur and AW#10 alumni. DotDot capitalizes on opportunities in the POS-less era with a full product line and services for F&B merchants. In early 2024, they further launched DotDot Pay as the first non-bank institution in Taiwan that could provide software-based payment solutions to accept credit cards on any mobile device. (AppWorks first funded DotDot in 2024 leading Series A).
Eden Farm
Founded by David Gunawan, Ramavito Mountaino, and Febrianto Gamal, Eden Farm is a fast growing B2B agritech startup in Indonesia. The trio had previously started a logistics company, and were once farmers themselves. Their solid co-founder dynamics and enthusiasm towards modern agriculture led them to the journey of starting Eden Farm. Their mission is to eliminate the burgeoning nation’s supply chain inefficiencies for fresh produce. Eden Farm now serves a wide range of clients including street vendors, wet markets, chain restaurants, and e-grocery companies. (AppWorks first funded Eden Farm in 2021 leading Series A.)
Headquartered in Hong Kong, EMQ is a financial technology startup that is building a financial network across Asia and the Middle East with a focus on safe, quick, and cheap remittances. The company partners with financial institutions, regulatory authorities, and other strategic partners in each country to enable and settle cross-border remittance. EMQ was founded in 2014 by Max Liu, a veteran of the financial services industry with two decades of experience spanning hedge funds and investment banks. (AppWorks first funded EMQ in 2017 participating in Series A.)
Founded by Vincent Hsieh in 2008, FashionGuide is Taiwan’s leading fashion and beauty social networking site. By leveraging its community and market research insights, the company is able to maintain several highly-popular private label makeup brands such as 1028, the leading local makeup brand in Taiwan. (AppWorks first funded FashionGuide in 2016.)
Founded by Mandar Dange and Satyam Kulkarni in 2022, Fetcch is a payment connectivity network that makes blockchain payment experiences simple for all stakeholders and brings new payment features, such as payment requests, subscriptions, bill splitting, card payments, and more, to clients. Mandar is an experienced founder who built Influenco Studios, a product development startup, from zero-to-exit. Satyam possesses deep technical expertise gained from contributing to projects such as Olympus DAO and Layerzero. (AppWorks first funded Fetcch in 2023 leading its Series Pre-Seed.)
Founded in Canada in 2018 by lifelong tech entrepreneur and decentralist Lorien Gabel, Figment is one of the largest web3 infrastructure providers. They offer enterprise-grade staking-as-a-service for institutional token holders and custodians, as well as middleware and application layer solutions for developers such as their developer platform DataHub and block explorer Hubble. (AppWorks first funded Figment in 2021.)
Flow is a fast and developer-friendly blockchain combining scalability and usability. Flow is created by Dapper Labs, a team led by Roham Gharegozlou that has consistently delivered great consumer-scale blockchain experiences including CryptoKitties, Dapper Wallet, and NBA Topshot. (AppWorks first funded Flow in 2019.)
Founded by Daniel Hannum and Daniel Pfeffer in 2023, GasHawk is a transaction optimization protocol that helps users, including institutions, save up to 95% on blockchain transaction fees by monitoring networks and predicting the optimal time to submit a transaction over a given time frame. GasHawk can be integrated across multiple chains and wallets, offering gas savings, MEV protection, and transaction management services. (AppWorks first funded GasHawk in 2024 participating in their pre-seed round.)
Founded in 2021 by Ryan Lambacher, a boy genius who started both his founder career and college at 14, and his CTO Dakota Kincer. Graffle provides access to blockchain through APIs, webhooks and websockets, removing the hurdles for developers to build applications on Flow and other blockchains. With Graffle, developers can focus on creating the best consumer experiences without having to worry about the complexity of adopting blockchain as their infrastructure. (AppWorks first funded Graffle in 2021 leading Series Seed.)
Founded by Hong Gyu Yea, Matthew Quek, and Aaron Ong in 2022, GRVT is a hybrid derivatives exchange that aims to solve the high counterparty risk problem existing in the current crypto market by leveraging high-performance centralized orderbook and secure on-chain settlement. The trio at the helm of GRVT brings a wealth of experience and expertise from traditional finance and web2 companies, uniquely positioning them to address the pressing challenges in the industry.
(AppWorks first funded GRVT in 2023)
Founded by serial entrepreneur Aaron Chang, Happ. (AW#9) is a proptech company providing space sharing service. The company owns Pickone, the largest search engine for space rental in Taiwan, with over 1,500 listings across Taiwan on their site. Seeing high demand in spaces for meetings and small gatherings on Pickone, the company later launched Happ.Space in 2016, a brand providing 210 retrofitted, self-service, auto management, and IoT-enabled venues. Happ designs their spaces for a multitude of purposes in order to accommodate different settings and enhance customers’ experiences. (AppWorks first funded Happ. in 2018 leading Series Seed.)
Helix
Founded by Jack Kim in 2019, Hypersonic Laboratories is a software gaming studio developing the “Helix Metaverse,” a hyper-realistic digital world with efficient UGC tooling for co-creation and massive multiplayer environments. Jack’s background spans from selling robotic parts to founding successful tech ventures, shaping his vision for empowering digital creators. (AppWorks first funded Hypersonic Laboratories in 2024, participating in their Series A round.)
Co-founded in 2021 by Marius Ciubotariu, a self-taught coder who began coding at the age of 13. After developing a passion for finance during university, Marius joined Bloomberg and later discovered crypto. He was fascinated by the multidisciplinary skills needed to shape flagship blockchain protocols, so he dove headfirst into creating Hubble Protocol, with the goal of establishing “USDH” – a fully censorship-resistant stablecoin that can provide a secure and dependable means to empower the future of DeFi. (AppWorks first funded Hubble in 2022 participating in their Strategy Round Token Sale)
Started from building a cloud-based POS system for a restaurant, iCHEF was co-founded by Benjamin Wu, Ken Chen and Spencer Ho in 2012. Aiming at making restaurants smarter businesses, iCHEF now provides integrated services including cloud-based POS applications, self-serve ordering and payment., Headquartered in Taiwan, iCHEF is now an international technology company serving roughly 10,000 restaurants across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. (AppWorks first funded iCHEF in 2016 leading Series A.)
Founded by James Vuong, Infina aims to be the leading all-asset class investing app for retail investors, a.k.a. the Robinhood of Vietnam. With Infina, investors can trade stock on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange or invest in mutual funds, CDs, or money markets. Prior to Infina, James built and sold a previous startup to LINE Corp, and served as a venture capitalist and Kauffman Fellow. (AppWorks first funded Infina in 2022 participating in the SAFE round.)
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Inflow is a B2B fashion supply chain platform led by Khanh Lê, a repeat founder with extensive experience in the fashion industry. With Khanh’s vision to empower brands to scale effectively, Inflow developed a one-stop solution for fashion brands of all sizes that makes sourcing and manufacturing streamlined. Inflow enables brands to accelerate their time-to-market and harness the advantages that come with agile production. Since its inception, Inflow has established a network of over 150 suppliers and has successfully provided services to numerous international brands, including Love Bonito and Pomelo Fashion.
InfraDigital connects Indonesian schools to digital services by providing a free platform to digitize school operational data and communications. Using their platform, schools bring finances from paper records and cash to electronic records and digital payments, and also access other services like edtech and procurement to benefit educators, students and parents alike. InfraDigital was founded by Ian McKenna and Indah Maryani, two payments veterans on a mission to improve the education of every Indonesian child. (AppWorks first funded InfraDigital in 2019 leading Series Seed.)
Founded by Jimmy Petrus, iSeller is a leading omnichannel SaaS provider in Indonesia. Jimmy is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in software engineering. In 2003 he started his first company, Intersoft Solutions, a software development house that had been trusted by global names like Citi, Microsoft, and others. Intersoft Solutions evolved into iSeller in 2017, which provides a holistic platform that enables merchants to synchronize their management and operations of both offline and online businesses, including payment and logistics operations. iSeller is now adopted by over 15,000 retailer outlets in Indonesia. (AppWorks first funded iSeller in 2021 leading Pre-Series B.)
Founded in 2021 by Allen Ng, an accomplished web3 venture builder and investor, Kikitrade is a social-orientated crypto investment platform that makes it easy for users to purchase and manage digital assets. The company aims to become the most secure and user-friendly platform for millennials and first-time investors to embark on their crypto journey. Allen is a well-versed hustler with a longstanding conviction towards crypto,, he developed a prominent track record as an investor with early bets in companies like Telegram, Fantom, and Dapper Labs before starting Kikitrade.
Founded in 2018 by Tiger Fang, Kargo Technologies is Indonesia’s largest asset-light, multi-modal logistics platform connecting shippers and transporters via a digitally managed marketplace. Prior to his life as a startup founder, Tiger started off his career in finance but quickly delved into the world of tech startups and earned his stripes during his time managing Lazada in Thailand and subsequently Uber in multiple Asian markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. (AppWorks first funded Kargo in 2022, participating in their Series Pre-B.)
Co-founded by Marcelo Ruiz de Olano, a DeFi founder with a clear vision driven by a deep passion for creating a more inclusive and transparent financial system, leveraging his deep experience both in trading and decentralized finance. Karpatkey specializes in providing treasury management solutions for DAOs, offering services such as protocol research, DAO engagement, automation of financial strategies, and ongoing support to maximize asset security and yield. With clients like Aave, Uniswap, and Balancer, Karpatkey is widely recognized as a leader in DeFi treasury management. (AppWorks first funded Karpatkey in 2024, participating in their Token Sale Round.)
Launched in 2014 and headquartered in Taiwan, KKday is the leading e-commerce platform that enables users to connect with local tour operators from all over the world. Spearheaded by Ming Ming Chen, its founder and CEO, who is a serial entrepreneur that has led two OTA startups to IPO, KKday has curated more than 6,000 worldwide experiences from professional providers and unique local experts to integrate authentic experiences as the centerpiece of traveling. (AppWorks first funded KKday in 2016 leading Series A.)
Founded by John Auerbach, Adam Chinn, and Boris Pevzne in 2021, LiveArtX is a curated NFT marketplace that allows artists and customers to mint, transact, and appreciate NFTs produced by top artists. The project spawned from the established online fine art platform LiveArt, and is powered by $ART token that gives collectors & artists the power to co-own the platform they use and gain access to exclusive art experiences. Bringing fine art market expertise and connections to the NFT space, the founders of LiveArtX are seasoned entrepreneurs with successful exits to art powerhouses Sotheby’s and Christie’s under their belt.
Founded by Joseph Djenandji and Matthew Balazsi in 2021, Mint opens the world of NFTs to a larger audience by making every step of the process accessible. Merchants can easily create a fully-branded environment, capturing the entire customer journey from buying to selling NFTs using familiar channels such as Shopify. Mint has already helped several leading brands including the Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets, and NBA G league build their own NFT experience and deeper fan engagement. (AppWorks first funded Mint in 2021 leading the SAFE round.)
Founded by Louis Chang, AW#4 alumni, NewsLeopard is a leading email marketing platform for businesses in Taiwan, now used by over 1,000 clients. (AppWorks first funded NewsLeopard in 2016 leading Series Seed.)
NOBI is a crypto asset management service built for the next generation of Indonesian retail investors. Founded by serial entrepreneur and longtime crypto enthusiast Lawrence Samantha in 2018, it offers yield-generating investment products through its beginner-friendly staking, lending, and trading services. (AppWorks first funded NOBI in 2022 participating in Series Seed.)
Founded by Alan Chan, Omnichat (AW#16) is an omni-channel messaging platform designed to help businesses implement marketing automation, achieve higher conversion rates, and increase their sales and customer service efficiency. Omnichat was founded in 2017, is headquartered in Hong Kong, and serves thousands of clients across Asia including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Prior to Omnichat, Alan was the co-founder and CTO at another tech startup that also provided auto messaging tools. With good learning and insight from previous failures, Alan brings the same steadfast passion and further innovation to Omnicat. (AppWorks first funded Omnichat in 2020 leading Series Seed.)
Led by co-founder and CEO Ben Huh – a veteran when it comes to putting cats on the internet, having assembled I-Can-Has-Cheezburger.com (ICHC), a collection of User Generated Content (UGC) websites fueled with memes in 2007. Ben immediately made the connection between the potential in blockchain and how it can power communities in a brand new way. Origami is building a variety of tools to support the needs of DAOs, including The Origami Framework to provide new DAOs guidance on how to establish their latest organization. (AppWorks first funded Origami in 2022 participating in their Seed Round)
Pace
Founded by T Fuad, a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exit experiences, Pace is the fastest-growing multi-territorial fintech solutions company from Singapore with a mission to democratize financial services across Asia. Its “Buy Now Pay Later’’ (BNPL) solution for offline and online merchants matches customers with appropriate spend limits and allows them to split their purchases over three equal interest-free payments. Pace currently operates in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand. (AppWorks first funded Pace in 2021 participating in Series A.)
Parcel
Parcel is a marketplace for land in the Metaverse founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneur and longtime blockchain believer Noah Gaynor. They offer a one-stop shop for discovering, visualizing and acquiring land NFTs from multiple metaverses like Decentraland, The Sandbox, and Mona. (AppWorks first funded Parcel in 2022.)
Pintar
Established in 2013, Pintar (formerly HarukaEDU) aims to provide a brighter future for Indonesians through blended online-offline education targeted at both individuals and companies. The company’s turn-key solution covers all the key elements required to launch and manage successful online learning and degree programs, such as digital courseware and study materials, learning management systems, and student acquisition. The company is currently led by Ray Pulungan, who previously managed special projects at Amman Group, one of Indonesia’s largest mining and metals companies. (AppWorks first funded Haruka in 2019 participating in Series C.)
Founded in 2022 by Andy Kuo and Kelly Liao, seasoned founders known best for previously co-founding and leading group-buying e-commerce startup, KuoBrothers, to IPO in Taiwan (TWSE:8477), PopChill is a social marketplace for pre-owned fashion merchandise. It enables users to discover and purchase interesting outfits and styles as well as creators to share content with the PopChill community and to build their own following. (AppWorks first funded PopChill in 2022 leading Series Pre-A.)
Founded by blockchain early adopter Hsuan Lee and Edwin Yen in 2019, Blocto (AW#19) is an integrated crypto wallet that allows users the ease of logging in with just their emails and biometrics, safely store cryptocurrencies, seamlessly launch 3rd-party dApps, and trade NFTs—all through a carefully crafted user experience that matches state-of-the-art app designs. Blocto supports multiple blockchains, including Flow, Ethereum, BSC, and Solana and is the most popular wallet amongst Flow token holders. (AppWorks first funded Blocto in 2021.)
Founded in 2017 and based in Jakarta, PrimaKu is a community-based parenting ecosystem that aims to help address the challenges of first-time parents and serves as a one-stop solution for all parenting needs across every child development stage. The company is currently led by co-founder and CEO Didit Indraputra, a 2nd-time founder coming from a unique background as both an operator and investor. In exclusive partnership with Indonesia’s Pediatric Society(IPS), PrimaKu has become the pioneer of digital child health apps in Indonesia, connecting parents, pediatricians, and health facilities together. (AppWorks first funded PrimaKu in 2022, co-leading their Series Pre-A.)
Founded by Hasrshet Lunani and Tommy Martin, Qoala is Southeast Asia’s leading InsurTech startup. Qoala distributes retail insurance products through its omni channel platform, on which there is a network of tens of thousands of agents. The company also carries insurance products via embedding into partner platforms, such as OTAs, e-commerce & fintech apps. The strong traction of Qoala relies on Harshet’s years of prior experience heading BIMA Indonesia, a provider of mobile-based insurance products, as well as Tommy’s insights from his 2 years of experience as marketing lead of Traveloka. (AppWorks first funded Qoala in 2022 participating in Series B.)
Founded in 2021 by Tony Harman and Wyeth Ridgway, two gaming industry veterans who have built their careers on driving video games to new heights. Tony brought to life Donkey Kong Country, a landmark game for Nintendothat broke into the US market, as well as served as the studio president for the famed Grand Theft Auto series. Wyeth, a specialist in next-gen gaming, has built games for devices starting from the original iPod all the way to the latest PlayStation. The duo is working to unite blockchain and gaming through their “Unioverse” franchise. (AppWorks first funded Random Games in 2023, participating in their Seed-3 SAFE)”
Founded in 2021 by Alex Chung, a seasoned AI specialist who previously held stints at Lyft, Meta, and AWS, as well as selling his previous startup “Cocatalyst” to Freewill and ran his own hedge fund. He launched Reality Platforms in an attempt to virtualize cities around the world, leveraging the potential of blockchain and the rapidly emerging NERF technology to create digital renders. They aim to incorporate these adaptations into games and other commercial mapping use cases while rewarding mapping contributors and giving them ownership of the data. (AppWorks first funded Reality Platforms in 2021 participating in their Series Seed)
ShopBack (AW#13) is the leading cashback rewards platform in APAC. Founded in 2014 by Henry Chan and Joel Leong, two gritty entrepreneurs from Singapore, ShopBack is the destination for shoppers looking for cashback, coupons, price comparison, and content. For merchants, they provide cost-effective marketing solutions that convert browsers into buyers. (AppWorks first funded Shopback in 2017 participating in Series A.)
Founded in 2019 by an AI expert and filmmaker Mike Calcagno, SoopahGenius (AW#20) is the creator of Catapult, an AI-powered video creation platform for live streamers and their communities. Catapult drastically improves the video editing experience for streamers and editors through model-based technology that enables them to find key moments and create compelling content from the gigabytes of raw material in their streams. (AppWorks first funded SoopahGenius in 2021)
Founded in 2021 by Doo Wan Nam and Gustav Arentoft, former MakerDAO members passionate about decentralized governance. StableLab is the culmination of their years of first-hand experience navigating this space. The team is now active governance members in Uniswap, Arbitrum, Optimism, Balancer, Compound and many more. The team is also working on FORSE, a software platform aiming to bring transparency and efficiency to governance with quantifiable results. (AppWorks first funded StableLab in 2023 participating in Series Seed SAFE.)
Founded in 2023 by Rebecca Leung (AW#23) & Popular Culture, Stanly is a platform connecting fans with their favorite fandoms, providing a unique space for engagement, sharing, and celebrating their passions. Popular Culture is a cutting-edge media and retail financier co-founded by Jens Grede, the man behind several notable brands in the past, including SKIMS and FRAME. With his extensive experience in consumer products and branding and Rebecca’s deep understanding of the creator economy and operational expertise, we believe Stanly will offer a groundbreaking experience for creators to interact with their fans. (AppWorks first funded Stanly in 2024 participating in Series Pre- A.)
Founded by Matthew Goulet, a pretty aggressive person and seems to live in all kinds of situations, he did DJ & threw parties to pay for the college, and is also willing to take up challenges or huge bets when he sees opportunity. Sturdy Exchange is an NFT issuance platform and marketplace founded in 2021. The company partners with digital artists, musicians and brands, helping entertainers unlock potential opportunities in the digital and blockchain world. (AppWorks first funded Sturdy Exchange in 2021.)
Teahouse Finance (AW#17) was founded in 2021 by Fenix Hsu, a professional poker player turned-founder who started the first of his many entrepreneurial endeavors back in 2006, working on 168poker.net. With Teahouse Finance, he aims to create a leading decentralized asset management platform, enabling strategists to craft intricate models optimized for concentrated liquidity by providing seamless infrastructure.
Niusha Moshrefi and Mahyar Daneshpajooh, the co-founders of TeleportDAO, have been working on blockchain and distributed technology during their EE undergraduate program at the top STEM institution in Iran. The third co-founder Ali Saheli is a serial entrepreneur who established Foro Technologies in 2013 that later exited to Fundamental Applications Corp. The trio is dedicated to making TeleportDAO a leading decentralized, trustless and lightweight cross-chain bridge for future multichain applications. TeleSwap TeleSwap, their first product, enables fast, secure asset transfers between Bitcoin and Polygon networks. (AppWorks funded TeleportDAO in 2021’s Seed Round)
Founded by Son Tran, a visionary leader with limitless ambition, Tiki has grown over the past decade to become Vietnam’s leading integrated digital retailer. Much like its international peers such as Amazon and JD, Tiki operates an end-to-end commerce platform integrating online and offline retail and its own warehouse and logistics network to serve millions of Vietnamese customers and empower brands and merchants as they transform digitally. (AppWorks first funded Tiki in 2021.)
Founded by Ajay Gopal in 2019, Tinvio helps merchants streamline order and invoice management with their suppliers via a frictionless chat-led interface. The Tinvio platform also speeds up payments and reconciliations, reduces late payment costs, and unlocks financing options for their customers. Tinvio is currently available in multiple markets and languages across Greater Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Prior to this startup, Ajay worked as both an investment banker and venture investor, while having also founded and sold a startup in his university years. (AppWorks first funded Tinvio in 2021 leading Series A.)
Founded in 2020 by song writer and MarTech expert Cardin Campbell, Trac is a one-stop shop for artists to monetize and manage every aspect of their career so they can build a more sustainable financial future across Web2 and Web3. Trac first launched in November, 2020, giving artists free music distribution on most major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, Tidal. (AppWorks first funded Trac in 2022 participating in Series Seed.)
Founded by Anggia Meisesari in 2019 and headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, TransTRACK is a leading fleet management and telematics software-as-a-service (SaaS). The hardware-agnostic SaaS platform is compatible with tracking devices provided by different vendors, offering fleet operators more flexibility and cost efficiency. Prior to founding TransTRACK, Anggia served as the Indonesia Country Manager at a global fleet telematics company, accumulating deep sector knowledge and leadership experiences. (AppWorks first funded TransTRACK in 2024 participating in its Series A.)
Founded by Hendry Rusli and Christina Suriadjaja, Travelio is a residence rental platform starting in Indonesia with an aim to expand across and Southeast Asia. For property owners, Travelio optimizes rental yield offering daily to yearly leases. For tenants, Travelio offers high-quality residences with flexible payment options, disrupting the market practice of 1-2 years upfront requirements. Hendry is a repeat founder, running a software studio before starting Travelio. Christina joined soon after and has since proven herself a valuable asset to the company, nailing their partnership with most property developers. (AppWorks first funded Travelio in 2022 participating in Series C.)
Founded by early community member of Flow Daniel Podaru in 2020, VIV3 has built the first global NFT marketplace on the Flow blockchain, and is on a mission to turn the most valuable creations into long-lasting digital assets that anyone can own and trade. (AppWorks first funded VIV3 in 2021 leading Series Seed.)
WeMo Scooter (AW#12) is a Taiwan leading e-scooter sharing platform founded in 2016 by Jeffrey Wu, an enthusiastic entrepreneur who aims to change the transport game in Asia. With live tracking features, 24/7 customer service, and insurance for all users, WeMo provides a safe and hassle-free experience for riders. The company aims to become the leading Mobility-as-a-Service provider, creating an innovative rental transportation experience, while facilitating the transition to smarter and greener cities across the region. (AppWorks first funded WeMo Scooter in 2020 leading Series A.)
XREX (AW#17) helps merchants in emerging economies accelerate international transactions by facilitating digital asset transfer, banking and trading using their secure exchange infrastructure. They also offer cryptocurrency exchange and wallet services to retail users in emerging countries. The startup is led by Wayne Huang, a hacker-turned-entrepreneur who previously founded Armorize Technologies, a cybersecurity firm which was eventually sold to the enterprise security company Proofpoint. (AppWorks first funded XREX in 2018 leading Series Seed.)
Founded by Wilson Huang, who started mining ETH in 2016 and has been a blockchain believer ever since, XY.Finance (AW#20) offers a one-stop cross-chain aggregator for DeFi and Metaverse. It aims to facilitate seamless and secure transfers of on-chain assets, including tokens, NFTs, and more, across all blockchains with just a few clicks. This is achieved by aggregating DEXs via X swap while maintaining swap efficiency through Y pool’s liquidity pool. XY.Finance supports multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and Fantom. (AppWorks first funded XY.Finance in 2021.)
Founded in Mario Suntanu in 2018, Yummy Corp is an Indonesia-based cloud kitchen company focused on using the latest technology to develop scale-as-a -service solutions for F&B brands. The company has served over 5 million meals since its founding in 2017 and is now the largest cloud kitchen operator in Indonesia with over 70+ kitchens serving more than 50+ brand partners to manage their daily F&B operations. Mario’s current startup is a perfect blend of his previous experiences as both an operator and investor, while also incorporating his love for mathematics. (AppWorks first funded Yummy Corp in 2020 participating in Series B.)
WorldSpark Studios
WorldSpark Studios, founded in 2021 by Chandler Thomlison, is the culmination of five rigorous years of indie development to create a community and social oriented game. Together with a team of ex-rioters, they aim to freshen the MOBA genre with a novel twist. Their first title is Sparkball. (AppWorks first funded WorldSpark Studios in 2022 participating in their bridge round.)
Below is a list of startups in our previous portfolio:
Founded in 2009, 17Life is the second-largest O2O platform in Taiwan, working to meet consumers’ lifestyle needs through home delivery and coupon group purchases. The company also leverages its O2O capabilities as a player in the cross-channel ecosystem, collaborating with major companies such as ShinKong Mitsukoshi, FamilyMart and Lion Travel. (AppWorks first funded 17Life in 2016 leading Series A.)
17LIVE was conceived in 2017 after a merger between 17 Media, founded by serial entrepreneur and former rapper Jeffrey Huang, and Paktor, founded by a former management consultant Joseph Phua. The company has now become the leading live streaming platform in Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong. (AppWorks first funded 17LIVE in 2015 participating in Series Seed.)
Docosan (AW#21) was founded by Beth Ann Lopez in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2020. Previously at the Peace Corps, Beth worked on providing help to the medical industry in different markets across Southeast Asia before focusing on bridging Vietnam’s widening gap between the rising middle class and the private hospitals and clinics. Docosan is a healthcare marketplace that lets patients compare providers across a wide range of specialties, book appointments online, chat with physicians, and more. (AppWorks first funded Docosan in 2021 leading Series Seed.)
Founded by Alex Chen, EZTABLE is a restaurant-booking platform that enables fast, simple online restaurant bookings for everything from family gatherings to celebrating important holidays. Prior to EZTABLE, Alex had years of experience as a financial analyst studying risk and fixed income markets. Alex has a relentless passion for value creation and therefore believes startup is the best vehicle to make innovation and disruption possible. (AppWorks first funded EZTABLE in 2010 leading Series Seed.)
Fabelio
Fabelio was an Indonesian online home and living company led by founder Marshall Utoyo. It offered affordable designer furniture to the new generation digital-native Indonesians. Fabelio ceased its operations in 2022.
Fandora Shop (AW#3) was founded in 2013 by a group of art lovers, Steven Su, Adrian Chen, Komashiro Chen, Kevin Lin, and Layra Liao, with a mission to support Taiwan’s growing number of illustors and indie artists. Fandora Shop is the largest online seller of illustration merchandise in Taiwan, collaborating with over 1000 illustrators, designers, and artists to offer original lifestyle products directly to fans and followers. (AppWorks first funded Fandora in 2014 leading Series A.)
Founders Jeffery Wu, Jake Tseng, and Chris Chen are relentless entrepreneurs that created multiple software products before launching UrMart (AW#4) in 2013. Now UrMart is the leading digital shop that provides nutrition supplements and healthy groceries for modern shoppers in Taiwan. UrMart also crafts a wide range of private label products of their own, catering to the ever changing lifestyle of health conscious millennials. (AppWorks first funded UrMart in 2016 leading Series Seed.)
Lalamove is the largest logistics company in Asia specializing in on-demand deliveries by matching users and drivers in real time. The company was founded in 2013 by Shing Chow, a former management consultant and professional poker player. (AppWorks first funded Lalamove in 2015 participating in Series A+.)
Founded in June 2014 by Frank Chen, Intowow Innovation is devoted to the innovation of advertising. Intowow is focusing on developing an AI-driven platform in order to provide latency-free premium ad experiences to consumers and also increase publishers’ monetization. Intowow is working with global publishers throughout the world, including in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Australia, Europe, U.S., India, and Southeast Asia. (AppWorks first funded Intowow in 2017 leading Series A.)
Founded by entrepreneurial brothers Jerry Kuo and Andy Kuo, Pcone spun out TPEx listed KuoBrothers to become one of the leading B2B2C e-commerce platforms in Taiwan. They applied revolutionary technology by incorporating machine learning into their marketing strategy, improving customer loyalty, combined with an effective point rewards system.
Founded by Davidd Liu and Kevin Huang in 2011, CHOCO TV provides high quality dramas, movies, animations from all over the world, and also supports numerous original works in Taiwan. In 2018, CHOCO TV successfully merged with LINE TV.
Founded in 2009, Patisco provides a B2B SaaS service designed to assist SMEs involved in international trade. Patisco digitizes many previously paper-heavy tasks and automates certain human-heavy tasks so that business owners and their teams can spend time developing the business instead of just maintaining it.
Founded by Ben Tseng, NetPublishing (TPEx ticker: 6542) is one of the largest mobile game publishers in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. It has published almost 100 games through Game Dreamer, Efunfun and PubGame, which have over 10 million members. NetPublishing was acquired by GameSparc.
Founded by Bernard Tan (AW#14) In 2016, Recactus aimed to let users record reaction videos easily when browsing other videos. ReCactus stopped its operation in 2019.
Richi
Founded by Tai in 2007, Richi provided brand loyalty program services to enterprises.
Splinterlands is a decentralized digital collectibles trading card game based on blockchain technologies. It was founded by two blockchain enthusiasts Matthew Rosen and Jesse Reich in 2018. Within 3 years of launching, Splinterlands has grown to become the blockchain game with the most players globally and enjoyed by players in 9 languages across the web, App Store, and Google Play. (AppWorks first funded Splinterlands in 2021 participating in their Private Token Sale.)
Founded by Teddy Yang, Tagtoo offers a platform enabling e-commerce merchants to automate display and optimization of advertising. Tagtoo uses advanced data analytics to understand consumer behaviors and display personalized ads, creating higher advertising returns for customers. Coming from a computer science background, Teddy built a strong team of engineers to bring innovation to the digital advertising market. (AppWorks first funded Tagtoo in 2012 leading Series Seed.)
Founded by Tai, TechOrange is a media outlet focusing on the latest news/trend in the internet industry. TechOrange interviews founders and key opinion leaders, utilizing a variety of content formats including articles, videos, and events.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Uber is a technology platform that uses a massive network, leading technology, operational excellence, and product expertise to power movement from point A to point B. Uber develops and operates proprietary technology applications supporting a variety of on-demand offerings on its platform including Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The company listed on the NYSE (UBER) in May 2019, and is currently led by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Founded by Vincent Hsieh in 2013. Uitox helped clients to establish brand-based e-commerce applications. Uitox stopped its operation in 2018.
