Hello SEAkers, I'm
Zi Xin
and I'm one of the co-founders.
"ASEAN professionals see China as the most influential economic and political-strategic power in the region. Chinese investors see ASEAN as the next great market for beta returns. We see potential in young people to do great things."
Fulfilling her ASEAN aspirations
Zi Xin holds a BA from University of Pennsylvania and an MA from Peking University. She currently finds herself in the happy position of working hard at work, while pursuing her other passions. She closely follows the startup ecosystems, funding rounds and latest news in Southeast Asia (SEA).
Zi Xin's previous role was as Investment Analyst intern in a Chinese VC fund called ZhenFund, where she specialised in Southeast Asia. There, she was amazed by many capable and daring CEOs of regional startups, but also met otherwise promising founders who failed to get investors' attention due to narrow mindsets that precluded regional success. Towards the tail end of her internship, armed with knowledge of both Southeast Asia's opportunities and Chinese business models, she led her team to pitch the idea of a Ziroom of Vietnam. This clinched the top prize at Startup Weekend Beijing.
A new window to look at the world
Stemming from these myriad experiences, Zi Xin is highly cognizant of the need to hone her Bahasa, Mandarin, and cross-cultural competencies, in order to capitalise future opportunities that will arise from Southeast Asia's Golden Age and China's attendant interest in Southeast Asia.
Zi Xin took part in Bahasa classes, area studies classes and overseas field trips to ASEAN countries through the Regional Studies Program. She was awarded the inaugural Lee Hsien Loong Award for Outstanding Bicultural Students (Malay) in 2014.
After returning to Singapore to start work, inspired by a colleague's beautiful rendition of 'Bengawan Solo', she aims to follow in his footsteps by sitting for the International Baccalaureate Bahasa paper. She currently takes classes in her free time to prepare.
Moving forward
Zi Xin is grateful for the education opportunities afforded to her, and seeks to pay it forward by changing more young people's mindsets about China and Southeast Asia. She aims to leverage her contacts in both regions to build new communities and create learning experiences for all.
