Joseph Phua
Born1984
Singapore
Education
Occupations
Known forChairman of Turn Capital

Joseph Phua (born 1984) is a Singaporean-Taiwanese entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the dating app Paktor,[1] co-founder and chairman of the listed live streaming platform 17LIVE Group, chairman of the SoundOn Group,[2] and founder of Nextapple News.[3] He is also known for his role as chairman of Turn Capital, a single family office that focuses on value investing in the consumer internet sector.[4][5]

Family

Phua met his wife through the app Paktor with whom he started his family in Taiwan, and they have been residing in Taiwan since 2013.[6]

Education

Phua attended Stern School of Business, New York University, majoring in Finance for his undergraduate degree.[7] He obtained a master's degree in Business Administration from Booth School of Business, University of Chicago.[7] After graduation, he worked at McKinsey & Company and Citibank.[8]

Career

In 2012, while studying at the University of Chicago, Phua was inspired by the emerging dating app, Tinder, after a breakup with his girlfriend of 8 years.[9] After returning to Singapore in 2013, he founded Paktor, a mobile dating app targeting Asian markets.[9][10] 6 months after launch, the app expanded to 11 markets resulting to draining of funds.[11][12][13] Phua then raised four rounds of funding from investors such as Vertex Holdings to keep the business going.[14][15][16]

In 2017, Phua merged Paktor with 17LIVE, a live streaming platform he co-founded with Machi Jeffrey Huang, to form M17 Entertainment.[17] After the merger, Phua became the CEO of M17 Entertainment. Phua built 17LIVE into a leading live streaming company in Asia excluding China, grossing over a billion US dollars in revenue.[18] In 2020, he resigned as the CEO[19] and assumed the role of chairman and the group was renamed 17LIVE Group.[20] In 2023, 17LIVE announced the plan to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange, in combination with Vertex Holdings’backed SPAC, at a valuation of close to S$1.2 billion (close to US$900m). [21] Phua, 17LIVE’s co-founder and Chairman, is said to be the company's largest individual shareholder.[22]

In 2021, Phua's family investment office, Turn Capital, acquired the podcast platform SoundOn and merged it with the voice social service Goodnight to form the SoundOn Group.[23] The same year, he also acquired Dapp Pocket and Cappuu of a Taiwanese blockchain company.[24][25] The two companies, Dapp Pocket and Cappuu, were later merged into a retail blockchain finance platform Coinomo.[26][4]

In September 2022, Phua founded Nextapple News[27] and positioned it as an independent news platform in Taiwan.[28] Phua hired 96 percent of the more than 200 staff laid off from Taiwan AppleDaily Taiwan.[29][30] In May 2023, he led Turn capital to acquire Zuvio, a Taiwan's student platform offering discussion, forums and friend matching features.[31]

Awards and honors

In 2019, Phua was selected by Asian fashion media Tatler as a Generation T (Gen.T) award recipient.[32]

Philanthropy

In 2021, Phua announced the establishment of the Phua and Chang Scholarship, a University of Chicago Booth School of Business endowment, sponsoring a Booth MBA student from Taiwan or Singapore each year. The scholarship was first awarded to a student from Taiwan.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Singh, Pooja (2018-12-11). "The App That is Helping People in Asia Find Love, One Swipe At A Time". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  2. ↑ Chou, Bryan (2021-01-28). "Taiwan's Largest Podcast Platform SoundOn Acquired by Singapore-Based Investment Firm". The News Lens International Edition. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  3. ↑ "17LIVE founder launches news site following failed Apple Online bid - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  4. 1 2 Sainul. "Joseph Phua's Turn Capital acquires Dapp Pocket to create SEA-focused retail crypto exchange". e27. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  5. ↑ Collective, Tech (2021-03-16). "We discuss podcasts and audio-entertainment with Joseph Phua from Turn Capital". Tech Collective. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  6. ↑ Guest, CIO Central. "How An App From Southeast Asia Is Helping People Find Love Online". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  7. 1 2 Sabina (2021-08-19). "首次創業遇上危機，卻沒想過放棄 Chicago Booth Joseph：不留後路，才能持續思考及成長". Sabina Huang (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  8. ↑ "Interview With Paktor Founder Joseph Phua, Looking To Build Asia's IAC - Global Dating Insights". 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  9. 1 2 Holliday, Katie (2014-08-29). "Singapore entrepreneur turns heartache into cash". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  10. ↑ "Ministry urged to foil Apple Online deal - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  11. ↑ Russell, Jon (2016-11-01). "Asia-focused dating app Paktor lands $32.5M to push into 'social entertainment'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  12. ↑ Russell, Jon (2016-07-11). "Asian Tinder rival Paktor lands $10M to further global push with launches in Japan and South Korea". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  13. ↑ Leow, Annabeth. "Paktor parent raises fresh US$25m, with Temasek-linked Pavilion Capital among investors". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  14. ↑ Russell, Jon (2014-11-18). "With $5M In Funding, Tinder-Like Paktor Wants To Get Southeast Asia Using Dating Apps". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  15. ↑ Williamson, Lee. "Crazy Smart Asia: Joseph Phua—Building Southeast Asia's Biggest Dating Platform". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  16. ↑ Phua, Joseph (2020-08-17). "Leading through the M17 Board: From Founder to CEO to Chairman". Medium. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  17. ↑ Russell, Jon (2017-04-26). "Paktor, a major rival to Tinder in Asia, moves into live-streaming via merger deal". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  18. ↑ "HT8 | Truths About Building A Billion Dollar, Profitable Content Business | Joseph Phua, 17LIVE". CrazyTok Media. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  19. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  20. ↑ Chew, Ryan (2022-04-19). "Evie Zhang wants to demystify crypto with OMO". The Peak Magazine. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  21. ↑ "VTAC to combine with livestreaming operator 17Live at S$1.2 billion valuation". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  22. ↑ 壹蘋新聞網 (2023-10-02). "17LIVE將在新加坡上市！交易市值273億 龍丞宣布投資亞洲新創15億｜壹蘋新聞網". Nextapple (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  23. ↑ "Kollective Ventures and Joseph Phua's family office acquire SoundOn, a Taiwanese startup with 35M monthly podcast downloads｜Meet Global". meet-global.bnext.com.tw. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  24. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  25. ↑ "Turn Capital Acquires Blockchain Startup Dapp Pocket". Enterprise IT News. 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  26. ↑ "Joseph Phua's Turn Capital acquires Dapp Pocket to create SEA-focused retail crypto exchange". news.nestia.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  27. ↑ Strong, Matthew (2022-08-30). "Singapore businessman launches new Next Apple news network in Taiwan | Taiwan News | 2022-08-30 14:50:00". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  28. ↑ Xiung, Chong Jinn. "M17 Founder Joseph Phua Launches Next Apple News in Taiwan". Tatler Asia. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  29. ↑ "收購蘋果新聞網 潘杰賢首揭邀聘員工新動向". 工商時報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  30. ↑ "Jimmy Lai-connected Apple Daily Taiwan to shut down". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  31. ↑ "潘杰賢成立《壹蘋》後再出手！收購大學生互動平台Zuvio，他想打造什麼？｜數位時代 BusinessNext". 數位時代 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  32. ↑ "Joseph Phua | Generation T". 2022-09-09. Archived from the original on 2022-09-09. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  33. ↑ admin (2021-11-12). "Taiwan student awarded first 'Phua and Chang Family Scholarship'". Asia Post. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.