As a part of the Investors Day (23 September) at the AsiaBerlin Summit 2020, we hosted an event focused on Family Offices and Funds comprising a panel discussion of four Family Offices ( two Asian and two German) sharing insights on the nuances and investment opportunities in both regions, including post-COVID19 outlooks. The second part of the event was followed by a reverse pitch event of three German VCs pitching their portfolios to 3 Asian investors from the perspective of internationalization.
The event was curated by our AsiaBerlin Ambassador Miguel Encarnacion, Managing Partner, Unifier Ventures.
In the past 5 years, Venture Capital has been democratized exponentially. As an asset class, it experienced a strategic innovation and geographic expansion unmatched by the prior 50 years in which it evolved from nascent to the mainstream. This industry was previously dominated by large funds with AUM > $500M. Today, there are now more than 1000 micro VC Funds with AUM < $50M in the US. Emerging managers who are in Funds I and II have also been among the consistent top performers in the portfolio of the European Investment Fund.
Similarly, Family Offices have experienced exponential growth in the past 15 years. There are now over 10,000 single family offices worldwide, with at least 50% having been established just in the past decade and a half. In a 2020 study conducted by Silicon Valley Bank on 110 family offices globally, the average family office had a 10% allocation to Venture Capital. This allocation was split almost evenly between direct investing (10 investments at $6.1M each) and fund investments (8 funds at $7.9M each).
The conversations between Family offices and Funds usually happen behind closed doors. In the spirit of democratization, this year we invited our guests to listen to them speak to each other in a virtual face-to-face at AsiaBerlin Summit. Watch the video of the event below.
The first hybrid family offices and funds event at AsiaBerlin Summit
In the unique format of this event, our global viewers were able to join conversations between family offices and funds in Asia and in Berlin, which usually happen behind closed doors. Family offices play a big role in innovation ecosystems.
- Jonathan Eade, UK-based Family Office with a presence in Berlin is excited to invest in mission-driven companies. He finds new and impactful ideas coming out of scientific institutions behind Berlin’s universities.
- Miu Li, who manages Alpha Square Group with HQ New York and China – shared about her post-covid focus on cloud computing, electric vehicles, e-commerce and biotech, which are growing industries in the Chinese market. Asia and Berlin-based family offices and funds shared strategies on co-investment, direct investment and thoughts about each market.
- Afterward, 3 Berlin-based VC funds pitched their portfolio companies to 3 Asian investors from the perspective of internationalization. There were no winners chosen. We had a dynamic discussion with insights regarding Asian market entry for specific verticals.
Family Offices at who participated in the event:
- Miu Li, Alpha Square Group, (HQ New York / China)
- Mark Sng, GenTree Fund, (HQ Singapore / Manila)
- Luck Saraya, Thaioil / TOP Ventures, TOP Ventures (HQ Bangkok)
- Sebastian Schütze, Germany Family Office
- Jonathan Eade, UK based Family Office in Germany
Pitch Presentations by Berlin-based funds:
- Florian Heinemann, Founding Partner at Project A Ventures
- Stefano Gurciullo, Investor at Redstone
- Christophe Maire, Founder and CEO, Atlantic Labs
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