Tatlerscope

Drawing on her entrepreneurial experience, the venture capitalist is helping to groom the next generation of start-up leaders

Venture capitalist Goh Yiping on grooming the next generation of start-up leaders

Goh yiping’s mind is constantly running. Her thoughts are mostly about new business opportunities or ways to help build start-ups. “I cannot sit still, even when I’m on holiday,” says the 37-year-old entrepreneur, who has founded several technology-driven companies. They include her first start-up, World Indigo, in 2004, which developed mobile phone roaming services for passengers on planes and ferries, and later her breakout venture, All Deals Asia, an online aggregator of retail deals she started with her brother Wayne in 2010, which was eventually acquired by Indonesia’s Lippo Group. “I want to make full use of my time, because time is limited after all.” While still running All Deals Asia and taking on the development of Lippo’s e-commerce business, Matahari Mall, the Generation T 2018 honouree decided to become a venture capitalist. “I enjoyed being a founder and being at the front line of running a business, but I started to wonder how I can make a greater impact and harness my connections and experience to help others build their businesses.” After hitting it off with Quest Ventures founder James Tan, she worked with the venture capital firm first as a freelance venture partner in 2015, before joining full-time in 2018. She identifies early-stage start-ups to invest in and nurtures them with a “pro-founder” approach. “We’re strong supporters of the founders we work with because we’ve been in their shoes before. We always make sure that they know we’re in this journey with them.”