Foo Jixun
Senior Managing Partner, Granite Asia
Master of Technology, Class of 2003
“Knowing my story could be helpful for the bright young people of my home country.”
With these words, Foo Jixun, a leading figure in the Asian venture capital scene, shares his unconventional journey from an engineer to a renowned investor.
A straight-A student from secondary school to university, Jixun had always stayed on the well-beaten path. While this provided certainty, his early life was stable but not exciting. With a curiosity for all things technical and innovative, Jixun trained as an engineer and graduated with first class honours from the NUS in 1993. He was hired by Hewlett-Packard, even before he graduated, to join its R&D centre, an enviable offer from a company in its heyday as personal computers and the Internet were taking off.
Excited by what he experienced during business trips to the Silicon Valley and inspired by a mission to transform Singapore’s economy from trade-driven to innovation-driven, he took a pay cut to run a startup incubator under the National Science and Technology Board.
Building an innovative ecosystem from ground up turned out to be much more difficult than working a corporate job. Disheartened by the slow progress, Jixun almost wanted to quit. However, his father encouraged him to stay the course, reminding him of his passion for innovation.
This perseverance proved fruitful. Soon, he was travelling extensively to global innovation hubs like Cambridge, Dublin, and Tel Aviv, gaining valuable insights into emerging technologies and entrepreneurial ecosystems. During this period, he also completed a Master in Technology at NUS Business School to gain new knowledge.
When the dot-com boom reached Asia, Jixun seized the opportunity to join DFJ ePlanet Ventures, marking his official entry into the venture capital world. It was here that he faced another hurdle: being the sole associate in Asia with two partners above him. He describes the early days as grueling, spending countless hours poring over business plans. However, he viewed this as essential training, laying the foundation for his future success.
Jixun’s breakthrough came with his investment in Baidu, a then-fledgling Chinese search engine. His belief in the company’s potential and the founders’ determination led to a landmark deal that would transform both Baidu and Jixun’s career. Despite his investment tanking during the dot-com bust in the early 2000s, Baidu’s subsequent IPO in 2005 catapulted Jixun onto the global stage, solidifying his reputation as a visionary investor.
In 2005, Jixun joined GGV Capital where he continued to make waves in the Asian tech scene. Today, he is Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia, rebranded from GGV Capital.
Throughout his career, Jixun has invested in numerous successful companies, including Didi Chuxing, Grab, and XPeng Motors, showcasing his ability to identify and nurture companies who can make an impact.