The 500 Startups footprint in Greater China & Angel Investing with Rui Ma
Rui Ma (@ruima), partner from 500 Startups covering Greater China, joins us to discuss her investment thesis & interesting startups in her portfolio.
Rui Ma (@ruima), partner from 500 Startups covering Greater China, joins us to discuss her investment thesis and the kind of founders she back in a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem. She gives an introduction to 500 Startups and how they help startups with their mentors network and events, and discuss some interesting companies under her portfolio. She also added some insights on the angel investing ecosystem in China and provide some advice to how foreign founders can start up in China.
Here are the interesting notes and links for the discussion:
- The story of Rui Ma, from a financial career to an early stage startup investor as a partner in 500 Startups covering Greater China.
- What is the investment thesis for Rui Ma and 500 startups in East Asia (Greater China, Hong Kong, Taiwan)?
- What type of founders and startup categories does Rui Ma invest in?
- How should founders build their rapport with investors even if they don’t invest? Check out Rui Ma’s article on this question in Tech In Asia.
- How does 500 Startups help a startup when it is invested? A discussion on the mentor network and how the 500 startup ecosystem helps the startup to focus in growth and distribution.
- We discuss on the interesting 500 Startup events: Pre-money, Weapons of Mass Distribution and Warm Gun, Geeks on the plane, and when are some of these events would be coming to Asia?
- Interesting companies in Rui Ma’s portfolio and she discussed these interesting companies: Pantry, Roam & Wander, Shopline, Fiberead, Microbenefits,
- How’s early stage investing look like in China? Are there any notable super angels or Ron Conway equivalent?
- Known angels: Bob Xu from Zhen Fund and Lei Jun from Xiaomi.
- Getting into China: what are your tips for expats setting up startups in China? What kind of startups are they better against local founders?
- A short discussion on education startups and why it is something that Rui Ma is passionate about.
Podcast Information:
The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bleongcw) and is sponsored by Ideal Workspace (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn).
