Judy Shaw sits down with Michael Lint
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00:00So one of the biggest interests that we're seeing is how can we take traditional industries,
00:04you can look at oil and gas, manufacturing, the automotive industry,
00:08and how can we innovate with technology within those more traditional industries as well.
00:18Michael, it is wonderful to have you on Floor Talk today here at NYSE International Day.
00:22Thank you for having me.
00:23So Michael, I want to start off by talking about the company.
00:25Tell me about GoldenGate Ventures
00:27and what key trends are you seeing in Southeast Asia and MENA region?
00:31So GoldenGate Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund
00:34founded in Singapore in 2011.
00:37So it's been a while ago.
00:39We invest in early stage startups across the Southeast Asian market.
00:43But as of recent, we've opened up our first fund in the MENA region.
00:47So we're now investing across the GCC and North Africa as well.
00:50In terms of trends, some of the trends we're seeing,
00:53I would say that we have historically invested in a lot of B2C companies and also B2B.
01:00But as of recent, what we're seeing now is a lot of attention on, of course,
01:04AI, deep technology, and quantum computing.
01:06So one of the biggest interests that we're seeing is how can we take traditional industries,
01:11you can look at oil and gas, manufacturing, the automotive industry,
01:14and how can we innovate with technology within those more traditional industries as well.
01:18Now, Michael, tell me, what do you look for in startups?
01:21And how do you gauge their potential for long-term success?
01:24So there's a lot of ways of looking at startups.
01:26Of course, the first thing that is foremost important is,
01:29are they going after a very big market?
01:31And how big is that market?
01:32Because as a venture fund, we're looking for the maximum returns.
01:35But because we invest early, one big portion of our, I would say,
01:39due diligence is the founding team.
01:41And do we feel that those founders are able to really execute on their promise
01:45and really focus on building a big company?
01:47And are those the future potential global leaders that we're looking for?
01:51Michael, which industries do you see as ripe for disruption in the next few years?
01:56There's actually quite a bit of industries that are really ready for disruption.
02:00I would say healthcare is a big one.
02:02Where we used to look at healthcare as almost kind of sort of after-the-fact healthcare,
02:07we're now looking more and more at predictive healthcare.
02:09Can we use all those data points that we have, your wearables, your phones,
02:15and use those devices to kind of work towards predictive healthcare?
02:18That is one.
02:19The other one is, I would say, the oil and gas industry.
02:22I think looking at the media market, there are so many efficiencies
02:26that this market is looking for.
02:27So we're seeing a lot of innovation there as well.
02:30Manufacturing is another big one.
02:33And whether it is looking at robotics, whether looking at quantum computing,
02:36there's a lot of innovation that are happening.
02:38Financial services remains a very, very big sector for us as well.
02:42And finally, tell me, how does GoldenGate Ventures
02:44support its portfolio companies beyond funding?
02:46Well, beyond funding, we look at a number of things.
02:49Business development is a very big one.
02:51So as companies are expanding to new countries, building out their product,
02:55looking out for building out new teams,
02:57we are supportive on the business development side, leveraging our network.
03:01But I would say, when you look at the venture itself,
03:03and if you look at exits over the past decades,
03:06a lot of it has come from M&A, secondary transactions.
03:10And as a firm, we really help the founders go through this process
03:13and find the right acquisition partner if they don't IPO.
03:16All right. Well, Michael, wonderful to talk with you.
03:18Thanks for joining me on Floor Talk.
03:20Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.