Vulcan Capital, the invest arm of the late Paul Allen, opened its first international office in Singapore to invest in startups in Southeast Asia.
Bloomberg reported that Vulcan plans an initial $100 million investment in startups in the area, with a focus on seed, Series A and Series B rounds in areas like consumer internet, financial services and real estate technology. Tommy Teo and Minjie Yu, both veteran financiers with a background working in Southeast Asia, joined Vulcan earlier this year as managing directors to lead the Singapore office.
Allen, who founded Microsoft with Bill Gates before making his mark in technology investing, sports ownership, commercial space, global philanthropy, the environment, museums and the arts, died last year, leaving behind a fortune of more than $26 billion. Bloomberg notes that Vulcan is shifting from a management company to an estate trust, a process that will take years due to the complexity of Allen’s investments throughout his life.
Vulcan’s entrance into Singapore immediately makes it one of the biggest players in the area, per Bloomberg. But it is a little different from other investors. While the company will aim to bring in strong returns, it will takes the proceeds and re-invest them into Vulcan’s philanthropic ventures.
