Episode 2 | Women Startup Leaders Series

Investing in Growth Stage Asian Startups with Karen Contet

In this episode, Karen Contet, co-founder of WHub.io - Hong Kong's biggest startup community and power connector, and co-founder & CEO of AngelHub, dives into investing in growth-stage tech companies scaling or established in Asia. Karen is also the founding board member of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong. Immersed in the startup scene, she is a French Foreign Trade Advisor, Community Leader for Techstars, Accelerator Programs Mentor, International Conference Speaker, FrenchTech Ambassador, and WomenWhoCodeHK Founder.

In this podcast, she walks us through her work in building up the Hong Kong ecosystem in the early days, the natural progression from ecosystem development to investing and the mechanics behind a platform like AngelHub and some of the portfolio companies. There were several parallels between the HK ecosystem seven years ago (old money favoring traditional sectors such as real estate, startup-unfriendly regulations, lack of founder literacy among investment terms, the difficulty and novelty of raising $1M plus rounds) and the current Bangladesh one. But take heart - once things get going, they really get going. These days, Hong Kong boasts eight unicorns, and generation one founders are now reinvesting into the next generation, creating a virtuous cycle and a tipping point in the venture scene.

Thank you so much for joining us Karen!

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