Nearly one year ago today, we shared our investment in ZenBusiness, leading its $55M Series B. Today, we’re excited to announce its $200M Series C, led by Oak HC/FT and Softbank with participation from Greycroft and us at Cathay Innovation. With this latest round, ZenBusiness has become the latest billion-dollar…

Cathay Innovation & Seaya Ventures’ First Joint Investment in Latin America By: Alexandre Lazarow, Pablo Pedrejón, Costanza Carissimo Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the bedrock of most economies, representing about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. …

Why founders in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere are leveraging SPACs to take their companies public — Co-authored with Allen Taylor (Endeavor Catalyst) Last month, Grab announced it would go public via SPAC. This is an incredible milestone in the world of SPACs (“Special Purpose Acquisition Companies), a sector that has exploded in the last two years. …

Earlier this year, we announced our investment leading the $20M Series B in Sidecar Health, a transformative health insurance company in the US. Since then, the company has accelerated rapidly, and today is announcing a $125M round, led by Bond, Drive Capital and Menlo Ventures, with participation from Tiger, Greatpoint…

Entrepreneurship is the bedrock of the United States economy, with new small businesses responsible for all net new job creation in this country — a vital component that has proved more resilient in recessions and as we navigate the COVID-19 crisis. Entrepreneurship is also becoming a more popular career option…

The US healthcare system is broken. On one hand, it is the most expensive in the world, costing around $8,000 per person a year and representing over 17% of GDP. Compare that to the average of comparable countries from France, the UK, Norway and others — which is less than…

We’re entering the desert. Which would you rather be? — Even before the coronavirus shocked markets, the sheen was starting to fade from Silicon Valley’s obsession with finding, funding, and building the next unicorn — the valley’s nickname for startups valued at over a billion dollars. …

Originally posted December 2, 2015, on GSMA blog, and cross-posted to Omidyar Network. Global access to power and clean water in emerging markets has long seemed unreachable. …

Repost of my CIO Outlook Magazine article: https://www.insuranceciooutlook.com/magazines/October2018/InsurTech_Startups/ In Silicon Valley, the typical narrative around any innovation follows a similar pattern: [Insert industry] has not changed in [Insert arbitrary large number] years. They are still using [insert choice of antiquated technology: fax machines, excel sheets, mainframe computers] to conduct their…