Asia Tech Podcast – Episode 43 – Nikhil Kapur – Partner at STRIVE – The Belief in the Capabilities of the Founder

by | Jun 28, 2019

Nikhil Kapur and I had a fantastic and insightful conversation that ran a gamut of topics around the venture capital and investment space in Southeast Asia, Japan and India.  Nikhil is Head of Investments for Southeast Asia and India at STRIVE.  He is an accomplished computer engineer and a successful startup founder.  He built a profitable B2B media-tech venture in India called TommyJams.

Recently, STRIVE (the former GREE Ventures) has been in the news as it has completely re-branded and has also announced the first close of its third fund and expect to announce a final close by year-end 2019.  Among other things, we discussed both the rebranding and the new fund.  We also spoke about the firm’s commitment to sit in the same boat as the founders into which it invests.  This exemplifies STRIVE’s passion towards building big businesses along with the founders. 

Nikhil noted that each successive fund of STRIVE’s moves more and more into the B2B sector, believing that enterprises in Asia still maintain a technology stack (or lack thereof) that has yet to be fully disrupted. We moved into a discussion of SuperApps, Grab, Alibaba and TenCent and why chat was really important to their growth.

Asia Tech Podcast - Episode 43 - Nikhil Kapur - Partner at STRIVE - The Belief in the Capabilities of the Founder

by Nikhil Kapur | Asia Tech Podcast

Latest Episodes:

EP 295 – Ujjwal Deep Dahal – CEO at Druk Holding & Investments – What Makes Bhutan a Legitimate Next-Gen Startup Nation

EP 295 – Ujjwal Deep Dahal – CEO at Druk Holding & Investments – What Makes Bhutan a Legitimate Next-Gen Startup Nation

The Asia Tech Podcast spoke with Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of Druk Holdings & Investments, the commercial and investment arm of the Royal Government of Bhutan. Ujjwal shared his perspective on the importance of technology and innovation in solving societal problems and building a sustainable future. As an electrical engineer with experience in the power sector, Dahal has witnessed the transformation brought about by the internet and believes that it has provided opportunities for reflection and problem-solving.

read more
EP 294 – Liza Lin – The Wall Street Journal – US Actions Have Spurred China to Become More Self-Sufficient

EP 294 – Liza Lin – The Wall Street Journal – US Actions Have Spurred China to Become More Self-Sufficient

After seeing a lot of surveillance camera networks pop up on the streets in China back in 2017, ⁠Liza Lin⁠ and her writing partner ⁠Josh Chin⁠’s interest was piqued. They were not surprised that the Chinese government was spying on its citizens, but they were surprised by the method. Liza is a co-author of, “Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control” and an award-winning China technology correspondent at The Wall Street Journal.

read more