“There’s still so much ground to cover in Southeast Asia. It’s going to be really exciting seeing what this next generation of founders will build – and it’s a real privilege to share in both the ups and downs of their journeys”
Dat is a Senior Associate in the Lightspeed Southeast Asia (SEA) team. He has previously been on the portfolio-side, raising capital from venture investors, and has now decided to pursue his passion for investing full time . Supporting the team to grow the Lightspeed platform in the region, Dat will focus on consumer, fintech and proptech companies.
Prior to Lightspeed, Dat was working with Altara Ventures, where he was part of the original investment team prior to the closing of its first fund. He was also part of the senior management team at CoHive, an Indonesian proptech startup, and was involved in blitzscaling the business across the country and building new business verticals. His personal experience building 0-to-1 teams and raising capital gives him unique insights in serving founders. Prior to joining the startup ecosystem, Dat spent a significant time at McKinsey, focusing on real estate and private equity projects. Dat has lived and worked in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, giving him deep insights and knowledge of the South east Asia region
Given his experiences, Dat brings two things; the empathy of being a builder and deep connections to start-up networks. “There’s still so much ground to cover in Southeast Asia. It’s going to be really exciting seeing what this next generation of founders will build – and it’s a real privilege to share in both the ups and downs of their journeys”, says Dat.
Dat believes that empathy and compassion are fundamental. He grew up in a loving middle-class family back in Kuala Lumpur and completed his formal education at Imperial College London, where he was trained as an engineer. When he is not bonding with founders, Dat can be found either running, cycling or swimming – depending on which races are coming up in the triathlon calendar.“I’m not slow. I’m just enjoying the race longer” is a phrase Dat dishes out that is applicable to both life and triathlons.
