UVC: Yinglan Tan and Linh Dang on the entrepreneurial journey of Edmicro with Insignia Ventures Partners, Linh’s insights on the Vietnamese ed-tech matrix, and Yinglan’s perception of the product-service dichotomy of the VC industry
Understanding VC is a deep dive on how Venture Capitalists work. In this episode, I talk to Yinglan tan, Founding Managing Partner at Insignia Ventures Partners, and Linh Dang, Co-founder at Edmicro Education Co., Ltd. Yinglan ventures into a detailed articulation of Insignia’s fresh approach towards customization and administration structure, followed by Linh’s observations on the nuances of the Vietnamese ed-tech arena. The two guests explore the dynamics of startup-VC relationships in the light of their own association. They talk about their respective introductory experiences in the startup ecosystem, how their paths converged in Vietnam, and the qualities borne by the two companies that constantly facilitate a mutually positive appraisal.
In this episode, you will learn:
- What is Edmicro’s macro approach in handling the Vietnamese ed-tech ecosystem?
- How does Edmicro add value to the education sector?
- What is the reasoning behind Edmicro’s predominantly B2B approach?
- How has technology and accessibility reformed the Vietnamese education system?
- Why do Linh and Yinglan ascribe as much importance to founder-product fit as to product-market fit?
- What are the key elements of a sustainable startup-VC relationship?
- What are the intricacies of Venture Capital as viewed from service-oriented and product-oriented perspectives? Are these two facets of VC complementary or contrastive?
- What were the factors that facilitated not just a tenable but an amiable relationship between Insignia and Edmicro?
About
Yinglan Tan
Yinglan Tan founded Insignia Ventures Partners in 2017. Insignia Ventures Partners is an early-stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and manages more than US$450 million from sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices. Insignia Ventures Partners is the recipient of “Deal of the Year (Small Cap / VC)” for Ajaib (2021) by AVCJ and two back-to-back “VC Deal of Year” awards for Payfazz (2019) and Carro (2018) from the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and its portfolio include many other technology leaders in Southeast Asia. He also co-hosts the On Call with Insignia Ventures podcast, where he chats with portfolio founders and regional investors. An author on venture capital, startups and innovation, he recently published his fourth book, Navigating ASEANnovation (World Scientific, 2020). He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and is a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution.
Linh Dang Bao
Linh Dang Bao is the CEO and co-founder of Edmicro. He is a seasoned operator in Vietnam’s education sector, having worked several years driving adoption of Intel Vietnam’s edtech solutions across the country through partnerships with government agencies and schools, prior to starting Edmicro. He took up his PhD in the Netherlands before he returned to Vietnam.
Yinglan Tan
Founding Managing Partner at Insignia Ventures Partners
Yinglan Tan founded Insignia Ventures Partners in 2017. Insignia Ventures Partners is an early-stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia and manages more than US$450 million from sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments and renowned family offices. Insignia Ventures Partners is the recipient of “Deal of the Year (Small Cap / VC)” for Ajaib (2021) by AVCJ and two back-to-back “VC Deal of Year” awards for Payfazz (2019) and Carro (2018) from the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association and its portfolio include many other technology leaders in Southeast Asia. He also co-hosts the On Call with Insignia Ventures podcast, where he chats with portfolio founders and regional investors. An author on venture capital, startups and innovation, he recently published his fourth book, Navigating ASEANnovation (World Scientific, 2020). He also serves on the International Board of Stars – Leaders of the Next Generation, the Singapore Government’s Pro Enterprise Panel and is a Board Member at Hwa Chong Institution.
Linh Dang Bao
Co-Founder and CEO at Edmicro Education Co., Ltd
Linh Dang Bao is the CEO and co-founder of Edmicro. He is a seasoned operator in Vietnam’s education sector, having worked several years driving adoption of Intel Vietnam’s edtech solutions across the country through partnerships with government agencies and schools, prior to starting Edmicro. He took up his PhD in the Netherlands before he returned to Vietnam.
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