500 Startups appoints Asia regional director

Lim (pictured), will lead business development for corporate and start-up innovation programs in the region and build relationships with various organizations with interests in venture capital. This will include a focus on talent discovery and corporate digital transformation.

“Ee Ling’s strong corporate and entrepreneurial background, her active participation in the start-up ecosystem, and her deep understanding of 500 Startups’ operations will be invaluable to lead and grow the firm’s ecosystem engagement in the diverse APAC region,” Bedy Yang, a managing partner and head of ecosystems at 500 Startups, said in a statement.

Lim has been 500’s Singapore lead since 2019 and helped launch a number of accelerators with regional corporations. Before 500, she filled various roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and CIMB, where she advised corporations in Southeast Asia on growth and fundraising. She has about 13 years’ experience in investment banking, consumer, retail, and technology and co-founded an education tech start-up.

US-based 500 Startups focuses on seed-stage investment and has backed more than 2,500 companies in 78 countries since its inception in 2010. The team currently numbers more than 140 based in 17 countries.

It has country funds focused on Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as a $50 million Southeast Asia fund anchored by Mavcap, Malaysia’s largest VC. There are also accelerators in Indonesia and Cambodia. The Japan team spun out into a separate firm in 2019.

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