500 centers itself around supporting bold, innovative founders around the world. As venture dollars increasingly shift towards being deployed outside of the U.S., firms need to be thinking about their strategy to manage the trend towards globalization. 500 began making bets outside of Silicon Valley and outside of the U.S. back in 2010. Today, in 2019, 49% of our overall portfolio hails from outside the U.S. and spans more than 75 countries around the world.
Earlier this year, I expressed that the 500 of the future is just getting started, and announced Courtney Powell joining as 500’s new COO. I am thrilled to be sharing more good news today and welcome Tony Wang as our new Managing Partner. In this role, Tony will help to lead our global funds strategy, investments, and overall global expansion. I’m thrilled to have Tony on the 500 team, ready to serve our mission and help take 500 to new heights.
Journey to 500
Tony has spent his career helping early-stage companies scale to become global businesses and beyond. Before Google became the massive global tech company that it is today, Tony was Managing Counsel and part of the executive management team charged with overseeing the Asia Pacific and Latin American regions. During his time there, he contributed to the growth of the regions from zero to over $2B in revenue in less than four years, including setting up Google’s joint venture in China, as well as establishing Google’s APAC headquarters in Singapore.
Tony then gained experience on the other side of the world when he became VP of Europe for Twitter. Tony joined Twitter when it was fewer than 100 people and helped to develop Twitter’s global business model. Just before joining 500, Tony was the Chief Operating Officer at Color, the leader in digital health applying software and machine learning to deliver precision health to large populations.
Tony’s work during the growth stages at Google, Twitter and Color, provided him the opportunity to build and manage teams operating in over 30 countries around the world across various sectors such as consumer tech, digital media, mobile, and healthcare. Tony’s experience in scaling teams, international expansion, and innovation made him a stellar choice for 500’s newest family member.
In Tony’s Words
“The venture capital world is undergoing a dramatic shift towards globalization where 500 Startups has been the leader and investing for the past decade. There’s no question there are talented founders around the world, and I’m excited to join 500’s mission to level the field of opportunity for them. While there’s much more to go, I’ve long admired 500’s commitment to diversity in the founders it backs, the team behind the firm, and the global operating model.”
The Future of 500
Even after investing in over 2,300 companies across more than 75 countries, our work is just getting started. It is exciting and humbling to see how far 500 has come in just 9 years, and the bright journey ahead as we traverse onward and upward to bring capital, expertise, and community to founders everywhere.
It takes a great team to make that happen, and I’m honored to now have Tony part of this journey.
ALL NUMBERS ARE BASED ON INTERNAL ESTIMATES AS AT SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 AND HAVE NOT BEEN INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED. THE TITLE “PARTNER” IS USED IN ACCORDANCE WITH CUSTOMARY BUSINESS PRACTICE IN THE VENTURE CAPITAL INDUSTRY AND DOES NOT INDICATE A LEGAL STATUS AS A “PARTNER” IN A PARTNERSHIP.
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