A new chapter at Crypto.com Capital

After a decade writing about technology and business in Asia, I’ve made a change. This month, I joined Crypto.com Capital — the investment fund attached to Crypto.com — as a partner.

I’ve been fortunate to have some incredible jobs, and moving to The Ken to build on its success and start a Southeast Asia subscription was truly a dream of a challenge. The Ken has built an incredible team and, with a focus on quality reporting, it continues to publish stories that raise the bar for business and tech journalism in the region.

My new role is not entirely dissimilar as it is about growing something with potential. The fund was started by Crypto.com co-founder Bobby Bao in March 2021 to help top founders and startups grow. Less than a year later and it has already backed over 20 startups. This year we want to double down to find even more top founders to reach their potential — and add to our own team, too.

Lately, you might have heard of Crypto.com from its Staple Center deal, or perhaps ads with Matt Damon, but it is no overnight success. I watched it start out in 2016 as one of many crypto card hopefuls, most fell but Crypto.com (then called Monaco) didn’t just last the course, it thrived and grew into a top three trading exchange with other services.

The fund brings that same entrepreneurial energy and crypto expertise to enable promising startups to fulfill their potential to grow into tomorrow’s biggest names. Yes, there’s a lot of hype and hot air in crypto, but there’s also serious potential for disruptive new services and models.

I’ve owned a moderate amount of crypto since 2016 (all journalists should dabble at least, I believe) but am not about to go web3 gaga. As a reporter, we are critical and skeptical of companies and that ‘firm but fair’ mindset won’t change. But the last year has shown its potential to break out — it’s impossible to ignore the talent that’s flocking into this young industry. Having got to know the founders and product over recent years, Crypto.com can have a real impact.

Our focus is on seed and Series A deals — so if you’re a startup founder looking to raise, an investor looking to connect or a potential future member of our team, drop me a line at jon@crypto.com.

You can find more details at Crypto.com/capital

Finally, I still plan to write in the future but I don’t have exact details right now. At the minimum, I intend to get my newsletter Asia Tech Review back to a regular publishing schedule. From there, we shall see.