Investing in Asia explores the unprecedented growth across the most populated region in the world. We're talking about Asia outside of China, where 44% of the world's population lives. They are young, they are digital natives, and their buying power is increasing by the day. Join your host Arshad Chowdhury, an investor with the Betatron Venture Group, as he meets investors, entrepreneurs and key players to understand the opportunities and challenges of scaling startups here. Learn more about Betatron Venture Group - https://www.betatron.co/ Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury - https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc/
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21 recent
September 19, 2025Episode 2124 min
Soft Robotics With Dr. Cecilia Laschi
Listen in on a conversation with Dr. Cecilia Laschi, a leading expert in soft robotics and bio-inspired robotics at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Laschi discusses her research on building efficient, adaptable, and sustainable robots using soft materials inspired by nature. She highlights advancements in materials that mimic biological properties, and the development of soft grippers and wearable robotics. The conversation explores the future of robotics, contrasting traditional rigid robots with the emerging field of soft robotics, which aims to reduce energy consumption, improve adaptability, and incorporate biodegradable materials.Dr. Cecilia Laschi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cecilia-laschi-a844907/http://betatron.co
August 14, 2024Episode 2020 min
Bangladesh After Overthrow
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5, 2024, amid massive protests and violent unrest that had gripped the country for weeks. The unrest began as student-led protests against a controversial government job quota system but quickly escalated into widespread anti-government demonstrations. Protesters accused Hasina’s government of corruption, election rigging, and human rights abuses during her 15 years in power.Today we hear from Anayet Rashid, the CEO of Truck Lagbe. Truck Lagbe is the country’s largest platform for booking trucks. They have coverage across the country.We’ll hear what it was like to live through the overthrow, why prices have on everything have come down, what he thinks about the future of the country, and we’ll even hear some surprising info on how early stage investors have been making a lot of money investing in companies like his.Truck Lagbe: https://trucklagbe.com/shipper Anayet Rashid: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anayetrashidpappu/Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coX (Previously Twitter): @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc
August 5, 2024Episode 1932 min
Robotics in Asia
Companies large and small across Asia are increasingly adopting autonomous robots in warehouses and manufacturing. At the bleeding edge of this is Rahul Nambiar, CEO of Botsync. Botsync helps manufacturers automate their manufacturing facilities across Asia. In this episode we start with Botsync's journey, then we cover the types of different robots, adoption rates, buying versus leasing, government policy, and opportunities for new entrepreneurs in the space. Botsync: Botsync.co Rahul Nambiar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nambiarrahulHosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coX (Previously Twitter): @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgcSpecial thanks to Mark Spencer for his help producing this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-spencer-b02b9113/
June 27, 2024Episode 1844 min
Asia’s Funding Winter
Today’s guest is Bhavik Vashi, the managing director for Asia Pacific and the Middle East at Carta. His seat at Carta gives him a perfect view as to what’s happening in the region in terms of startup and VC fundraising and formation. This episode is especially helpful for any LPs looking at the APAC region. Questions we tackle include:What it was like to experience two major liquidity eventsWhat Carta sees in terms of funding rounds today for startupsThe size and scope of the current funding winterWhy LPs are on the sidelines todayVC mark ups and pricing opacityHow governments in MENA are competing for companiesWhy tokenized ownership of funds probably won’t catch onAI’s impact and the challenges in picking a winnerThe future of exits in Asia and what that means for portfolio constructionCarta: Carta.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavikvashi/Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coX (Previously Twitter): @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc
May 29, 2024Episode 1737 min
Digital Payments
Today's guest is Caesar Sengupta, the CEO of Arta Finance, a wealth management platform built by Caesar and his team of ex Googlers. They came out of stealth in 2022 and announced having raised 90 million in funding. Caesar holds a degree in computer science from Stanford and an MBA from Wharton at Google.Caesar was part of the team that built Google pay into one of the world's leading digital payment platforms, and then spearheaded the next billion users initiative which brought internet access and digital payments to millions of people globally. Caesar is now based in Singapore and today we'll be hearing his take on both his unique journey and his views on the Asian startup ecosystem.Arta: https://artafinance.com/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caesar-s/ Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coX (Previously Twitter): @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc
March 4, 2024Episode 1632 min
Investing In Asia’s AI
Today’s guest is Leo Jiang. Leo is the Chief Digital Officer of Huawei Cloud and AI for APAC and the Founder of the company’s global accelerator, Huawei Spark. He’s been recognised as a Top 10 Most Influential CDO globally by Technology Magazine. We’re lucky to have him with us today as we dive into all things related to AI, Asia, and startup investing.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-nuo-jiang/Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coX (Previously Twitter): @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc
December 18, 2023Episode 1536 min
Preventing Ethical Collapse In Startups
Today’s guest is Erika Cheung, a key whistleblower who reported Theranos to health regulators. Her report subsequently led to the shutdown of Theranos’ clinical lab which prevented the company from providing false medical results to thousands of patients. The case has been reported on extensively, including in the book Bad Blood by John Carreyou, 60 Minutes, ABD Podcast: The Drop Out, and Alex Gibney’s documentary The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. Erika obtained a dual degree in Linguistics and Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley. She is part of the Betatron family as she was a Program Director in its early days. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikamcheung/Ethics In Entrepreneurship: https://ethicsinentrepreneurship.org/ Books Mentioned: The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse: How to Spot Moral Meltdowns in Companies... Before It’s Too Late & Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.HBO Documentary: The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coTwitter: @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc
September 11, 2023Episode 1431 min
The Business of Tree Planting: Bas Fransen from EcoMatcher
Today's guest is Bas Fransen, CEO and founder of EcoMatcher. Originally from Holland, Bas started his career in the Royal Dutch Navy and went on to become a technology executive with long stints at Phillips Semi Conductors, and then IBM.He founded the tree-planting company he runs today, called EcoMatcher, in 2016. The for-profit business has by now planted over a million trees and is on track to plant several million more in the coming years.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/basfransenhk/EcoMatcher: https://www.ecomatcher.com/The Hidden Life Of Trees: https://www.amazon.sg/Hidden-Life-Trees-Communicate_Discoveries-Secret/dp/1771642483Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coTwitter: @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc/TRANSCRIPT0:53 How did you get into this business?4:14 Planting a tree may seem simple, but what complexities have you encountered in the tree planting business?6:12 Who maintains and monitors the trees in the areas where you operate?8:09 In terms of carbon sequestration, how do you measure it, and how much carbon does each tree sequester?9:51 What can listeners do to identify potentially fraudulent companies or practices?12:38 Has your perspective changed after being in the tree planting business, and have there been any unexpected personal changes?14:30 What are the key trends and opportunities you see in the tree planting and carbon offset industry in Asia?16:27 What's next for EcoMatcher?
May 26, 2023Episode 1343 min
SOSV’s Portfolio Strategy
William Bao Bean is Managing Director of Orbit Startups the first and longest-running startup program in Asia and General Partner of SOSV the #2 most active venture capital investor in the world and #5 Asia/ROW with US$1.5bn in assets under management. William joined Orbit and SOSV from SingTel Innov8 Ventures where he was a founding Managing Director. Prior to that, William was a Partner at Softbank China & India Holdings, a VC backed by Softbank and Cisco, leading investments in China and South East Asia. William started his career in equity research most recently with Deutsche Bank where he was a top-ranked analyst for Asia Internet and China Tech.On this episode, we discuss Asia's continued growth, investing wide as a portfolio strategy and how SOSV’s Orbit Startups program operates. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williambaobean/Twitter: https://twitter.com/williambaobean?s=20Orbit Startups: https://orbitstartups.com/Beemunity: https://www.beemmunity.co/Insuro: https://insurotechnologies.com/Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coTwitter: @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc/
April 28, 2023Episode 1220 min
Navigating Corruption in India's Construction Industry
This episode delves into the issue of corruption within the Indian construction industry while examining how 91Squarefeet is making significant improvements to this sector in India.We learn exactly how “kickback” payments are made, we understand the role of technology can play in avoiding corruption, and we hear advice on what investors can do in their due diligence to identify dodgy business practices.Amit Bansal is an entrepreneur and founder of 91 Squarefeet, a leading tech-enabled startup in the retail space backed by Y-Combinator, helping brands with retail expansion. Headquartered in Gurgaon, 91Squarefeet currently has 200+ employees and regional offices in Mumbai and Bangalore as well.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitbansal91/91Squarefeet:https://www.linkedin.com/company/91sqft/https://www.91squarefeet.com/Hosted by Arshad Chowdhury, Managing Partner at Betatron: Betatron.coTwitter: @arshadgcLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arshadgc/
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