Venturous Group

Drawing from 36 years of private equity experience, the CEO of HPEF Capital Partners, Marcus Thompson, summarises his three decades of learning in one hour. Since the PE asset class's boom in the 1980s, Marcus has navigated through evolving markets from the UK to Asia, witnessing the private equity scene's rise post-SARS in 2004. This journey led him to discover the "secret sauce" to running a successful PE firm, including disciplined due diligence and strategic exit timings, and why private markets have outshined public ones consistently. Marcus will also share his long-term vision for PE investments, emphasising the importance of looking beyond current trends to anticipate the next 3-5 years.

Dr. Jingfeng Xu, who leads Digital Services for Arup in Australasia, shared his insights during a Venturous Webinar, emphasizing his belief that sustainable development encompasses all aspects of life, with digital technology playing a ubiquitous role. He highlighted the early stages of Smart Buildings technology, stressing the crucial need for property owners to adopt property technology innovations. These innovations are essential for assessing and enhancing facility management, improving energy efficiency, and reducing carbon emissions, among other benefits.

In a world where purpose-driven investments shape a sustainable future, Mr Andrew Chia, Senior Investment Manager of Taronga Ventures, explores the synergy of innovation and sustainability in the built environment, drawing insights from their portfolio. He shares insights into evaluating investment proposals, emphasising expansion potential, team dynamics and alignment with strategic partners. Andrew also highlights the rising trend of AI and automation in Proptech.

Numerous organisations possess substantial data assets. As AI gains momentum, a select few are keen on harnessing AI's potential to unlock value from their data reservoirs. Zühlke's Managing Director of Technology, Keya Desai, adeptly unravels the path to becoming an agile, data-driven entity. She underscores AI's authenticity and its potential to significantly impact our lives. Keya contends that AI's utility extends to nearly every industry, with only a scant 2-3 exceptions. Looking through an investor's lens, Keya envisions AI as a prudent, long-term investment, recognising tangible outcomes may take 3 to 5 years to fully materialise.

At the heart of Anacle's vision lies real estate management, and with unwavering conviction, Alex Lau, CEO of Anacle Systems, passionately championed the cause of Smart Buildings. With an enlightening demeanour, he showcased the unprecedented possibilities that await in the world of IoT, where costs have plummeted by 70% and installations have accelerated, thanks to cutting-edge innovations. Alex fervently asserted that the time has come for buildings to shed their excuses and wholeheartedly embrace smart technology.Venturing further into the captivating realm of AI, Alex shared transformative scenarios where its magic could truly shine. As the enthralling closing Q&A session approached, he struck a powerful chord by emphasising the pivotal role of government initiatives in driving Smart City projects, thereby inspiring private enterprises to follow the trail they blaze. Moreover, Alex underscored the allure of attractive incentives, infusing life into the notion of digital transformation for private organisations.

At the Venturous Session on May 10, 2023, Mr Glenn Wu, Co-Founder of R&B Technology Group, showcased Ari, their innovative product. Ari is a virtual industry expert powered by AI, offering deep data insights and domain expertise to property owners, helping them reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions, and overall costs. Additionally, Glenn emphasised the need for quantitative assessment and highlighted the challenge of low response and participation rates due to property owners' limited understanding of the solutions' benefits.The session concluded with a Q&A session, where Glenn elaborated on R&B's company size and competitive advantages.

During the Venturous Session on 12 April 2023, Mr KC Tay, the Executive Director (ASEAN) of the Smart Cities Council, highlighted the four essential aspects of a successful Smart City. He emphasised the need for a citizen-centric approach, where improving the quality of life for citizens should be prioritised over solely focusing on the implementation of technology.KC also stressed the importance of data in the development of Smart Cities. He noted that collecting and analysing data could inform decision-making and help improve city services, making it a crucial component in building successful smart cities.Furthermore, KC argued that public good projects could drive business models by supporting citizens' livelihoods and improving their quality of life. The Smart Citytech industry has created numerous opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs in recent years, making it possible to achieve both social and economic goals.Lastly, KC discussed how developing youth leadership could be a sustainable model for building smart cities. Young people bring fresh ideas and innovative thinking to Smart City projects, making it necessary to invest in youth leadership to achieve long-term success in building citizen-centric Smart Cities.

Mr. Andrew Chow, Co-Founder of Asia Pro Ventures, delivered a presentation at a Venturous Session on 15 March 2023. During the session, Andrew emphasized the importance of embracing digital transformation in today's fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape. He highlighted how businesses that fail to adopt new technologies risk falling behind their competitors and losing relevance in the market.Andrew also discussed the various aspects of the digital economy, including e-commerce, digital marketing, and social media. He provided practical tips and strategies for companies to leverage these channels to reach their target audience, increase their online presence, and drive revenue growth.Furthermore, Andrew shared his insights on some of the Citytech trends that could change the work of the future, such as artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), etc.

SmartCitiesWorld speaks with Benson Tam, CEO and Founder of Venturous Group, and Michael Kwok, East Asia Regional Chair for Arup, to discover how innovative public and private partnerships are pushing the envelope for the future of cities.The latest podcast from SmartCitiesWorld sees editor Luke Antoniou welcome Venturous Group’s Benson Tam and Arup’s Michael Kwok to talk all things collaborative in city technology.Together, there’s a discussion of the role that Venturous Group and Arup are playing – both together and individually – in driving forward a partnership model to help develop smarter cities. This includes the understanding of the state of play within Venturous Group’s Citytech network and insight into the development of the Neuron smart building platform – itself a joint venture between Arup and Venturous Group. Further, we find out about the importance of scalability and right-sizing solutions for adoption by different types of organizations, whether they’re cities or private-sector-owned and operated entities that have many of the same needs as modern cities.There’s also a discussion of the next steps for the smart city concept and vision and how citizens themselves will be able to personalize their own city experiences based on individual preferences based on the technology that can be created and adopted within a city context through new partnerships.For more on Venturous Group’s work, both with Arup and its other Citytech partners, download the SmartCitiesWorld Shenzhen City Profile, which includes more case studies on how Venturous Group is supporting the advancement of city technology.

Ms. Lan Luo, Chief Investment and Financing Officer of Linxforce, delivered a presentation at a Venturous Session on 15 February 2023. Linxforce, which was established in 2015, is a third-party supply chain collaboration service provider for enterprises. The company offers a B2B invoice management system, known as "fapiao" in China, to more than 200 Fortune/Forbes 500 companies.Fapiao is not only a legal receipt that serves as evidence of the purchase of goods and services but also a critical component of China's tax law and business compliance. Furthermore, since Linxforce is a recognized fapiao service provider across 36 provincial tax bureaus in China, its clients can enjoy a more streamlined process with banks for financial loans due to their revenue transparency.When asked if Linxforce could expand its services outside of China, given that the fapiao invoice system is unique to China, Ms. Lan Luo responded that their services remain relevant to other global tax systems because the fundamental need for a comprehensive supply chain collaboration service provider persists.

Mr. Liang Kit Wong, President of Keppel Land China, presented at a Venturous Session on 18 January 2023. Using the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city as a case study, Liang Kit will delve into the key focus areas and solutions applied to create a phygital Smart City. From community to precinct to city level, learn about the various smart solutions being implemented in the Eco-city.The session concludes with a Q&A session where Liang Kit will answer questions on the differences in building a Smart City in China compared to other countries, technology trends in recent China Smart Cities, and efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the Tianjin Eco-city.

Mr. Luke Antoniou, Senior Editor of SmartCitiesWorld (SCW), Ms. Zeina Nazer, Co-Founder of Cities Forum, and Ms. Hallie Liao, Head of China Investments at Transport International Holdings & Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Bus Group, had a panel presentation at a Venturous Session on 26 October 2022.The presentation by Luke covered a brief introduction to SCW as the leading platform for sharing ideas to solve urban challenges, and the Shenzhen City Profile Report that was launched in mid-October in partnership with Venturous Group (VG). Following that, Zeina shared the scope of work that Cities Forum does and the UN’s public-private partnerships (PPP) structure, which remains highly relevant even after over a decade.Lastly, Luke and Zeina were joined by Hallie to discuss successful case studies of PPP in cities such as Shenzhen, Dubai, and London. More examples of Shenzhen’s Smart City infrastructure established through PPP can be found in the VG x SCW Shenzhen City Profile Report.

Mr. Lijun Zhu, CEO of CoEvolution Technology Inc., spoke at a Venturous Session on 28 September 2022 about the trending adoption of smart, flexible logistic solutions worldwide. Before he began his presentation, Mr. Zhu highlighted that it is important that we acknowledge supply chain and logistics as a complex problem. Hardly any business would share an identical logistic model. Hence, adaptability is crucial when companies source for Smart Logistic solutions.Lijun also covered the functions of CoEvolution’s products that control logistic robots, manage warehouse inventory storage and simulate highly accurate operational processes. When asked what trends he sees in the AI automation supply chain industry, Lijun said that warehouse owners are actively looking for Smart Logistic solutions that are affordable, adaptable, and have quick planning and installation processes. Similarly, Lijun has made it a point to fulfil all of these requirements in CoEvolution’s AI solutions.

Neuron Digital Group held its virtual open day on 30 June 2022. Representing the parent companies of Neuron, Mr. Michael Kwok, Chairman of East Asia at Arup, and Mr. Benson Tam, Founder & CEO of Venturous Group, delivered short speeches on the story and rationale behind the birth of this joint venture.After that, Mr. Thomas Pang, the acting CEO of Neuron, presented the company's vision and business model, which is to provide AI-driven digital brains to the owners of new and existing buildings.Mr. Mark Chen, Neuron's Executive Lead, Mr. Felix Chan, Arup's Senior Consultant in Sustainability, and Ms. Wendy Chung, Arup's Senior Digital Consultant in Advanced Digital Engineering, also covered some functions of Neuron's AI Smart Building platform, such as building information modelling (BIM), predictive building performance and building management system (BMS). On a final note, the drastic reduction of carbon emissions reveals a huge potential for the Smart Building businesses.

Mr. Scott Yeh, Chief Technology Officer of SwanLink and Chief Science Officer of Venturous Group, spoke at a Venturous Session on 4 August 2022 about the latest development of the open-source ecosystem in China. The presentation included an overview of China’s policies and efforts to support and grow the open-source industry, as well as some details on OpenHarmony, one of the open-source operating systems in China with tremendous potential.Scott also covered SwanLink, a joint venture between iSoftStone Group, Wuxi National High-Tech District and Venturous Group, which was launched in June 2022 and develops commercially distributed versions of OpenHarmony-based IoT operating systems and applications.

Mr. Benson Tam, Founder & CEO of Venturous Group, spoke on 31 August 2022 about Venturous’ business, strategy, roadmap to IPO and the opportunity to invest in our Series B. Including CLP Group, which is one of the largest investor-owned power businesses in Asia Pacific and acting as our Series B lead investor, Venturous has already raised more than US$20 million for this round.As China’s first Citytech™ Group, Venturous is a first mover with a commanding market presence in the Smart City market in China, valued at US$4 trillion. Furthermore, Venturous’ unique IBO (invest, build and operate) business model also allows us to scale quickly, safely and systematically towards our own IPO in 5-8 years. Last but not least, we continue to work closely with our strategic partners such as iSoftStone, Arup and CLP, as well as city governments from Wuxi and Tianjin, to create new businesses and opportunities.

Mr. Jonas Pinzke, Co-Founder & CEO of Valiber Group, spoke at a Venturous Session on 8 June 2022 about the Metaverse. Among other things he covered current market prospects of the Metaverse, the industries that are growing their presence in this web 3.0 platform, major tech companies which are active, and how the virtual and physical worlds would increasingly merge in the future. Jonas’ insightful presentation covered both China as well as the rest of the world.Watch video here: https://www.venturousgroup.com/venturous-session-banking-on-metaverse/

Benson Tam, Founder & Chairman of Venturous Group, took part in a panel discussion on 16 November 2021 at the 34th Annual AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum. The topic was "Asian venture capital: A new maturity".

Dato' Charon bin Mokhzani, Group Managing Director at MIDF, had a conversation on 11 November 2021 with Benson Tam, Founder & Chairman of Venturous Group, about his journey, Venturous' ventures and plans, including the future IPO, as well as his insights on finance, technology and China.

Join us for this fireside chat with Benson Tam, an investment veteran in Asia who has been living in Beijing for almost 2 decades as he shares his investment philosophy, track record and experience investing in China. Benson explains his view on “Smart Citytech” investments in China and his thoughts on the increasingly regulated Chinese environment. More importantly, where he sees the smart money flowing to and the onshore sentiments he observes amidst the current volatile and unpredictable environment.