THE UNICORN CATCHER

Venture capitalist Chibo Tang helped fund a generation of startups in the Greater Bay Area—including eight unicorns. But he says there’s more to life (and business) than money

- David Bishop

Chibo Tang could be called an aficionado of many things: biotech. Wristwatches. AI. A good game of pool.

It’s a set of interests that perfectly suits this influential, 37-year old venture capitalist, whose restless curiosity and ambition have helped build the Greater Bay Area tech startup scene. As managing partner of Asia-Pacific venture capital firm Gobi Partners, Tang has funded 77 startups in the GBA since 2009. Of these, the vast majority have been funded through the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, a not-for-profit initiative by the Alibaba Group to give young entrepreneurs investment capital and strategic guidance, which Gobi Partners exclusively manages.

What you should not call Tang, however, is a champion of routine.

“Each day is different, and that’s a big part of why I like what I do,” he says. “Every day, I’m meeting with different entrepreneurs, investors, corporate or financial partners. I count myself very lucky, because every meeting I take, I get to learn about something new.”

That isn’t surprising, given that his job is to sift through Hong Kong’s thousands of startups seeking early-stage investment. In his role at Gobi Partners, he looks for the small handful of startups he believes have the potential to transform their industries. Tang’s portfolio currently includes some of the most influential and disruptive companies in Asia, including fintech giant Airwallex, Web3 powerhouse Animoca Brands and household logistics name GoGoX. Eight of his startup investments are now valued at over US$1 billion—“unicorns” in venture capital parlance—including Prenetics, a genetic testing company that last year became the first Hong Kong unicorn to list on Nasdaq.