East Ventures recruits Koh Wai Kit as managing partner

Indonesian VC firm East Ventures has announced the appointment of Koh Wai Kit as its new managing partner. Koh (pictured) will be responsible for further building on East Ventures’ leadership position in Indonesia and the Southeast Asia region. He joined East Ventures as a venture partner in February 2021 and brings over a decade of experience and network in the investment industry. 

Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner of East Ventures adds, “We are pleased to welcome Koh as managing partner of East Ventures. Since he worked closely with us as venture partner, he has delivered many positive impacts for East Ventures and the team. We are proud to have him join our leadership team to strengthen our foundation and accelerate growth.”  

Koh has founded and was CEO of a licensed fund management platform in 2021, and was also a founding member of Pavilion Capital, a Temasek company focused on private equity and venture capital in Asia. At Pavilion, he spearheaded investments in China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, which includes several tech unicorns such as Gojek, Didi, Xiaohongshu, Toss, and freee. Koh has worked in investment, strategy, and portfolio management functions at Temasek.

Koh was also a member of the Singapore Administrative Service, and was involved in public policy formulation and implementation.

“East Ventures is the leading venture investment platform in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It is a privilege for me to join the team that has delivered outperformance and outsized impact to the region’s tech ecosystem. I look forward to working with the team, founders, and partners to bring East Ventures to the next level,” said Koh on this new role.

In other company-related news, East Ventures recently led a Seed funding for Singapore-based fintech startip JiPay, where the startup secured US$1.3 million in funding. JiPay’s brand mission is to create an inclusive financial service platform for migrant domestic workers. Last month, the company also reported that it secured US$10 million for company TipTip, in another seed funding round, and reportedly one of the company’s biggest seed rounds.

On TipTip’s investment, Cuaca added that with the growth and acceleration of the content creator economy in the SEA region, TipTip is well positioned to capture new kinds of consumer behaviour generated by the pandemic, ones that will likely continue on in the post-pandemic world as well.

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