2 min read

500 Closes Strategic Investment with ADFG

Christine Tsai

Founding Partner and CEO

Published

03.04.18

500’s mission is an ambitious one.

To discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems.

Over the past eight years, 500 has accomplished a great deal. Today we manage over $400 million in committed capital and have invested in over 2,000 companies across more than 60 countries around the world, as well as mentored and coached thousands of founders through our Seed and Series A Programs. Notable 500 family include Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), SendGrid (NASDAQ: SEND), Credit Karma, Canva, Grab, Carousell, Udemy, and Talkdesk.

In the early days, many wondered why we were so bullish on going global and investing outside of Silicon Valley. As the world gets smaller, and as tech ecosystems around the world mature and thrive, we’re proud to have been early believers in the notion that talented founders and promising businesses exist everywhere – in Mexico City, Seoul, Istanbul, Lisbon, Singapore, Jakarta, Amman, Cairo, São Paulo, Provo, Los Angeles, Denver, and the list goes on.

However, our mission is far from done. We’re ready to take 500 to the next level.

Today, we announced that ADFG has made a strategic investment into 500. This is an investment into the overarching parent entity of 500. Through this investment, ADFG will hold a strategic stake in 500 and will be injecting substantial capital to accelerate the growth of our key initiatives, expand into new markets, and anchor future 500 funds. ADFG will also be joining our Board of Officers.

Over the last few years, we have gotten to know ADFG through their involvement as an LP in our previous funds and found that we have a strong alignment on vision and complementary strengths. We are proud to be expanding our relationship through this new investment and welcoming ADFG to our Board.

We look forward to working together to help accelerate 500’s future growth, invest in more promising companies, and further achieve our mission as one of the most active global VC firms in the world.

Christine Tsai

Founding Partner and CEO

Christine Tsai co-founded 500 Global in 2010, and led the firm’s growth over the past decade from a startup accelerator to a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.7B in assets under management, and more than 2,700 investments in 81 countries. 500 Global regularly ranks as one of the most active venture capital firms in the world, according to PitchBook, with a top number of exits. The firm’s diversified portfolio includes 49 companies valued at more than $1B, such as Talkdesk, Canva, Grab, GitLab, and Intercom. Private Equity International has named Christine one of 10 Women of Influence in venture capital. She currently serves on the venture capital committee of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, the Global Tech VC Council of the Global Private Capital Association, and is an active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Christine is also an honoree of Gold House’s 2021 A100 List, recognizing the most impactful Asian and Pacific Islander leaders across business and technology, entertainment, advocacy and politics, lifestyle, and sports. Prior to founding 500 Global, she held product marketing and operating roles at Google, including monetization and developer products such as Google AdSense, Google Analytics, YouTube APIs and syndication, and Google Developer Platform Tools. Christine holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California at Berkeley.